helot


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hel·ot

 (hĕl′ət)
n.
1. Helot One of a class of serfs in ancient Sparta, neither a slave nor a free citizen.
2. A person in servitude; a serf.

[From Greek Heilōtes, pl. of Heilōs, Heilōt-.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Helot

(ˈhɛlət; ˈhiː-)
n
1. (Historical Terms) (in ancient Greece, esp Sparta) a member of the class of unfree men above slaves owned by the state
2. (Historical Terms) (usually not capital) a serf or slave
[C16: from Latin Hēlotēs, from Greek Heilōtes, alleged to have meant originally: inhabitants of Helos, who, after its conquest, were serfs of the Spartans]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hel•ot

(ˈhɛl ət)

n.
1. (cap.) a member of a class of serfs in ancient Sparta who were bound to the land and owned by the state.
2. a serf or slave.
[1570–80; < Latin hēlōtēs (pl.) < Greek heílōtes]
hel′ot•ry, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.helot - (Middle Ages) a person who is bound to the land and owned by the feudal lordhelot - (Middle Ages) a person who is bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord
Europe - the 2nd smallest continent (actually a vast peninsula of Eurasia); the British use `Europe' to refer to all of the continent except the British Isles
cottier, cotter - a medieval English villein
thrall - someone held in bondage
Dark Ages, Middle Ages - the period of history between classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
He was a helot in the great hunt of helots that the masters were making.
A helot of Agesilaus made us a dish of Spartan broth, but I was not able to get down a second spoonful.
Next day, when I saw the directress, and when she made an excuse to meet me in the corridor, and besought my notice by a demeanour and look subdued to Helot humility, I could not love, I could scarcely pity her.
Besides, he makes the husbandmen masters of property upon paying a tribute; but this would be likely to make them far more troublesome and high-spirited than the Helots, the Penestise, or the slaves which others employ; nor has he ever determined whether it is necessary to give any attention to them in these particulars, nor thought of what is connected therewith, their polity, their education, their laws; besides, it is of no little consequence, nor is it easy to determine, how these should be framed so as to preserve the community of the military.
I mastered the notion of their communism, and approved of their iron money, with the poverty it obliged them to, yet somehow their cruel treatment of the Helots failed to shock me; perhaps I forgave it to their patriotism, as I had to forgive many ugly facts in the history of the Romans to theirs.
Edited by Christine Helot, Carolien Frijns, Koen Van Gorp, and Sven Sierens
Health, Social and Other Community Development Services: Health Care Services NC II, Caregiving NC II, Massage Therapy NC II, Helot and for (Wellness Massage) NC II, Hairdressing NC II, Beauty Care Services NC II, Pharmacy Services NC II, Bookkeeping NC III and for the Agra-Fishery Sector: Animal Production NC II, Organic Agriculture Production NC II.
This raiding included an attack on the city of Methone in the helot homeland of Messenia, a strike into an area where the Spartans felt particularly vulnerable.
If a helot harbored any ambitions beyond slavery, Burkhardt noted, "he was put to death and his master punished for not having kept the overweening fellow in place." Moreover, the helot population was culled on a regular basis to keep their numbers in check.
The Aotearoa New Zealand equivalent to the helot of Plato's Athens was obviously the Maori population.
Thus, a major issue with this expectation of dominant first-world powers is the insistance of one nation and one language at the expense of the native or heritage language (Crawford, 2004; Macedo, 2000; Wang & Winstead, 2016), especially languages associated with lower status in society (Beardsmore, 2008; Darder & Uriarte, 2013; Helot, 2002).