slavery
/ˈsleɪvəɹi/noun, adjective
slavery is spelled S-L-A-V-E-R-Y: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 16 times per million words in written English, the 5,025th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, slavery means “An institution or social practice of owning human beings as property, especially for use as forced laborers” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of slavery is slaveries.
How many letters and syllables are in slavery?
| Letters | 7: S-L-A-V-E-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 16 times per million words; the 5,025th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is slavery?
Slavery appears 16 times per million words in written English, the 5,025th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce slavery?
- /ˈsleɪvəɹi/
- /ˈsleɪvɹi/
As an adjective (“Covered in slaver; slobbery”): /ˈslævəɹi/, /ˈslævɹi/.
Slavery has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-slavery.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-slavery.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-slavery2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of slavery
- slaveries plural
- more slavery comparative
- most slavery superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does slavery mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An institution or social practice of owning human beings as property, especially for use as forced laborers.
abolition of slavery
- 2
Forced labor in general, regardless of legality.
- 3
A condition of servitude endured by a slave.
- 4
A condition in which one is captivated or subjugated, as by greed or drugs.
adjective
- 1
Covered in slaver; slobbery.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Slavery in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense institution or practice of owning human beings:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | esclavage |
| German | Sklaverei |
| Portuguese | escravidão, escravatura |
| Spanish | esclavitud |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.