slavery

/ˈsleɪvəɹi/

//ˈsleɪvəɹi// noun

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

"slavery" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“slavery” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,083. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,083
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
10
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An institution or social practice of owning human beings as property, especially for use as forced laborers.

Corpus desk

Index EN-slavery · slavery · English

slavery · rank #5,083 · 11 variants · 10 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,083
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH skip

Nearest frequency peer: skip (-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 “slavery”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “slavery” 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).

slavery vs slaves
71% similar
slavery vs slayer
71% similar
slavery vs sliver
71% similar

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

Key facts for slavery
PropertyValue
Headwordslavery
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsleɪvəɹi/
Letters7
Frequency rank#5,083
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “slavery”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).slaverylands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “skip” (#5,082), “snap” (#5,084), “sink” (#5,081). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “slavery” is #5,083. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around slavery (IPA /ˈsleɪvəɹi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,083 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for slavery, with forms such as "lsavery", "salvery", and "slaevry". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "slaves", "slayer", "sliver", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From slave + -ery. The correct English form is slavery, spelled S-L-A-V-E-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    An institution or social practice of owning human beings as property, especially for use as forced laborers.
  2. 2
    Forced labor in general, regardless of legality.
  3. 3
    A condition of servitude endured by a slave.
  4. 4
    A condition in which one is captivated or subjugated, as by greed or drugs.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. abolition of slavery
  2. modern slavery

Etymology

From slave + -ery.

This word in other languages

esclavitud(Español)esclavage(Français)Sklaverei(Deutsch)escravidão(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • lsavery
  • salvery
  • slaevry
  • slaverry
  • slaveryy
  • slaveyr
  • slavrey
  • slavvery
  • sllavery
  • slvaery
  • sslavery

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of slavery - 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.

lsavery2salvery2slaevry2slaverry1slaveryy1slaveyr2slavrey2slavvery1
Edit distance from "slavery"

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 "slavery"?
"slavery" is spelled S-L-A-V-E-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsleɪvəɹi/.
What does "slavery" mean?
As a noun, "slavery" means: An institution or social practice of owning human beings as property, especially for use as forced laborers.
What words are commonly confused with "slavery"?
"slavery" is commonly confused with "slaves", "slayer", "sliver". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "slavery"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "slavery" is /ˈsleɪvəɹi/. 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 "slavery"?
From slave + -ery. 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 "slavery", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Swedish#5,088phoenix#5,072veteran#5,094Orleans#5,070

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

wealthy11 variantsblowing11 variantschronic11 variantsimperial11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list