Where does “slaveholder” come from?
Slaveholder combines English slave, from Latin Sclavus, with English holder, from English hold, ultimately from Ancient Greek ἔλαιον.
slaveholder (English): Someone who owns slaves
Definitions
- Someone who owns slaves
Ancestry of “slaveholder”, step by step
slaveholder traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English slave
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | slave | A person who is held in servitude as the property... |
| 2 | Middle English | sclave | slave individual held in slavery |
| 3 | French | esclave | slave |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | sclavus | Slav, slave; slave |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | Σκλάβος | Slav |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | Σκλαβηνός | Slavic |
| 7 | Proto-Slavic | slověninъ | Slav |
| 8 | Proto-Slavic | slovo | word |
| 9 | Proto-Balto-Slavic | ślawas | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱléwos | fame |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱlew- | to hear |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱel- | to cover; to incline |
via English Hölder
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Hölder | A thing that holds |
| 2 | English | -er | A person or thing that does an action indicated... |
| 3 | Middle English | -er | agentive suffix; agent noun suffix |
| 4 | Old French | -er | Alternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;... |
| 5 | Latin | -āre | first conjugation |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -āō | Forms primarily denominative verbs |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 10 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |