Helot
Helot definition
Helot (hel′ət)
noun
- a member of the lowest class of serfs in ancient Sparta
- any serf or slave
Etymology: L Helotes, Hilotae, pl. < Gr Heilōtes, pl., taken as after Helos, town in Laconia whose inhabitants were enslaved by the Spartans, but < ? base of haliskesthai, to be captured < IE base *wel-, to tear, injure > L vellere, to pluck, tear away
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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