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menial

 - 3 dictionary results

me⋅ni⋅al

  [mee-nee-uhl, meen-yuhl]
Use menial in a Sentence
–adjective
1. lowly and sometimes degrading: menial work.
2. servile; submissive: menial attitudes.
3. pertaining to or suitable for domestic servants; humble: menial furnishings.
–noun
4. a domestic servant.
5. a servile person.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME meynyal < AF me(i)nial. See meiny, -al 1

Related forms:
me⋅ni⋅al⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
2. fawning. See servile. 4. attendant, underling, hireling, lackey.

Antonyms:
1. dignified. 2. proud.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To menial
me·ni·al   (mē'nē-əl, mēn'yəl)   
adj.  

  1. Of or relating to work or a job regarded as servile.

  2. Of, relating to, or appropriate for a servant.

n.  

  1. A servant, especially a domestic servant.

  2. A person who has a servile or low nature.


[Middle English meinial, belonging to a household, from Anglo-Norman meignial, from meignee, household, from Vulgar Latin *mānsiōnāta, from Latin mānsiō, mānsiōn-, house; see mansion.]
me'ni·al·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

menial 
1387, "pertaining to a household," from Anglo-Fr. meignial, from O.Fr. mesnie "household," earlier mesnede, from V.L. *mansionata, from L. mansionem "dwelling" (see mansion). Sense of "lowly, humble, suited to a servant" is first recorded 1673. Noun meaning "domestic servant" is 1388, meynyal.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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