helot

1 of 2

noun (1)

hel·​ot ˈhe-lət 

plural helots

1

Helot : a member of a class of serfs in ancient Sparta

2

: someone held in forced servitude : an enslaved person or serf

helotry

ˈhe-lə-trē 

noun

helotry

2 of 2

noun (2)

hel·​ot·​ry ˈhelətrē 

plural -es

1

: the helots of a country or of an estate

2

: the condition of a helot : slavery, serfdom

the poor countries are held in helotry just as they were in the colonial world of the nineteenth century

—Alexander Cockburn

Examples of helot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The 300 Spartans stood at the head of a force of approximately 7,000 other Greeks, not to mention their own helot slaves, who fought as light infantry. —Myke Cole, The New Republic, 1 Aug. 2019

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Latin Helotes, plural, from Greek Heilōtes

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1579, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for helot

• chelate
• pellet
• prelate
• zealot
• appellate

Kids Definition

helot

noun

hel·​ot ˈhel-ət 

: an enslaved person or serf