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helotage

 - 2 dictionary results

Hel⋅ot

  [hel-uht, hee-luht]
Use helotage in a Sentence
–noun
1. a member of the lowest class in ancient Laconia, constituting a body of serfs who were bound to the land and were owned by the state. Compare Perioeci, Spartiate.
2. (lowercase) a serf or slave; bondman.
Origin:
1570–80; < L hēlōtēs (pl.) < Gk heílōtes

Related forms:
hel⋅ot⋅age, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

helot 
1579, from Gk. Heilotes, pl. of Heilos, popularly assoc. with Helos, Laconian town reduced to serfdom by Sparta, but perhaps related to Gk. halonai "be captured."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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