slave

/sleɪv/

//sleɪv// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"slave" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“slave” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,270. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,270
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person who is held in servitude as the property of another person, and whose labor (and often also whose body and life) is subject to the owner's volition and control.

Corpus desk

Index EN-slave · slave · English

slave · rank #4,270 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,270
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH secrets

Nearest frequency peer: secrets (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “slave”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “slave” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

slave vs SLE
0% similar
slave vs slay
60% similar
slave vs slaw
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for slave
PropertyValue
Headwordslave
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/sleɪv/
Letters5
Frequency rank#4,270
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “slave”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).slavelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “secrets” (#4,269), “stability” (#4,271), “sec” (#4,268). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “slave” is #4,270. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around slave (IPA /sleɪv/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,270 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for slave, with forms such as "lsave", "slaev", and "slavve". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SLE", "slay", "slaw", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English sclave, from Old French sclave, from Medieval Latin sclavus (“slave”), from Late Latin Sclavus (“Slav”), traditionally assumed to be because Slavs were often forced into slavery in the Middle Ages. The Latin word is from Byzant… The correct English form is slave, spelled S-L-A-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person who is held in servitude as the property of another person, and whose labor (and often also whose body and life) is subject to the owner's volition and control.
  2. 2
    A drudge; one who labors or is obliged (e.g. by prior contract) to labor like a slave with limited rights, e.g. an indentured servant.
  3. 3
    An abject person.
  4. 4
    One who has no power of resistance to something, one who surrenders to or is under the domination of something.
  5. 5
    A submissive partner in a BDSM relationship who consensually submits to, sexually or personally, serving one or more masters or mistresses.
  6. 6
    A sex slave, a person who is forced against their will to perform, for another person or group, sexual acts on a regular or continuing basis.
  7. 7
    A device (such as a secondary flash or hard drive) that is subject to the control of another (a master).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Fear of their cargo bred a savage cruelty into the crew. One captain, to strike terror into the rest, killed a slave and dividing heart, liver and entrails into 300 pieces made each of the slaves eat one, threatening those who refused with the same torture. Such incidents were not rare.
  2. Art thou the ſlaue that with thy breath haſt kill'd / Mine innocent child?

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English sclave, from Old French sclave, from Medieval Latin sclavus (“slave”), from Late Latin Sclavus (“Slav”), traditionally assumed to be because Slavs were often forced into slavery in the Middle Ages. The Latin word is from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος (Sklábos); see that entry and Slav for more. Displaced native Old English þēow. Thrall and bondsman/bondswoman, however, remain common synonyms. Doublet of ciao and Slav. An alternative hypothesis derives sclavus from Ancient Greek σκῡλεύω (skūleúō), σκῡλάω (skūláō, “to strip or despoil a slain enemy”).

Synonyms

slave

This word in other languages

esclavo(Español)esclave(Français)Sklave(Deutsch)escravo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • lsave
  • slaev
  • slavve
  • sllave
  • slvae
  • sslave

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of slave - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

lsave2slaev2slavve1sllave1slvae2sslave1
Edit distance from "slave"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "slave"?
"slave" is spelled S-L-A-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is /sleɪv/.
What does "slave" mean?
As a noun, "slave" means: A person who is held in servitude as the property of another person, and whose labor (and often also whose body and life) is subject to the owner's volition and control.
What words are commonly confused with "slave"?
"slave" is commonly confused with "SLE", "slay", "slaw". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "slave"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "slave" is /sleɪv/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "slave"?
Inherited from Middle English sclave, from Old French sclave, from Medieval Latin sclavus (“slave”), from Late Latin Sclavus (“Slav”), traditionally assumed to be because Slavs were often forced into slavery in the Middle Ages. The Latin word is f... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "slave", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Saudi#4,266piano#4,258Oscar#4,256mouse#4,255

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

affair6 variantsmask6 variantsnuts6 variantschip6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list