slaveholding
|slave-hold-ing|
🇺🇸
/ˈsleɪvˌhoʊldɪŋ/
🇬🇧
/ˈsleɪvˌhəʊldɪŋ/
owning slaves
Etymology
'slaveholding' is a Modern English compound of 'slave' + 'holding'. 'slave' originates from Medieval Latin, specifically the word 'sclavus', where 'sclavus' referred to a 'Slav' (a person of the Slavic peoples); 'holding' is derived from the verb 'hold', from Old English 'healdan' (via Middle English 'holden'), meaning 'to hold'.
'slave' passed into English via Old French 'esclave' and Middle English 'sclave'/'slave' from Medieval Latin 'sclavus'; 'hold' comes from Old English 'healdan' and Middle English 'holden'. The compound 'slaveholding' developed in Modern English to denote ownership or the practice of holding slaves.
The component words originally signified 'a Slavic person' (for 'slave') and 'to hold' (for 'hold'); combined, the modern compound shifted to mean specifically 'the owning or holding of enslaved people' and, by extension, anything pertaining to that practice.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the practice, condition, or system of owning slaves; slave ownership.
Slaveholding was a major political and economic issue in the antebellum South.
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Adjective 1
relating to, characterized by, or supporting the owning of slaves (e.g., a slaveholding state or society).
He was elected as a representative of a slaveholding region.
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Last updated: 2025/11/23 00:42