galley slave

noun

"galley-slave" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“galley slave” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A slave who rows in a galley (type of ship).

Corpus desk

Index EN-galley-slave · galley slave · English

galley slave · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "G" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for galley slave
PropertyValue
Headwordgalley slave
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “galley slave” in English

galley slaveranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

galley slave is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

galley slave doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct English form is galley slave, spelled G-A-L-L-E-Y- -S-L-A-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A slave who rows in a galley (type of ship).
  2. 2
    A typesetter (person who arranged type in a galley for printing).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how galley slave appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. "That is a chain of galley slaves, on the way to the galleys by force of the king's orders." "How by force?" asked Don Quixote; "is it possible that the king uses force against anyone?" "I do not say that," answered Sancho, "but that these are people condemned for their crimes to serve by force in the king's galleys."
  2. The "galley slaves" in those days were the genuine article, and by the "chains that bound them" were no doubt the original members of the union.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "galley slave"?
"galley slave" is spelled G-A-L-L-E-Y- -S-L-A-V-E.
What does "galley slave" mean?
As a noun, "galley slave" means: A slave who rows in a galley (type of ship).
What language does "galley slave" come from?
"galley slave" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list