(nú lì) - slave in Mandarin
núlìTraditional: 奴隸
Translation
slave
Word origin
Both characters already meant an unfree person: 奴 (nú) is a bondservant, written as 女 beside 又, a hand, and 隶 (lì) means attached to or subordinate to a master.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 奴 (nú, bondservant) + 隶 (lì, subordinate)
Stroke order
奴
隶
Examples
。
The history lesson covered slaves in ancient times.
。
They were bought and sold as slaves.
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Nobody wants to be another person's slave.
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Those slaves finally gained their freedom.
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He says he is a slave to his work.
奴隶 (nú lì) is a slave: a person owned by another, with no legal freedom. It is the word history books use for the ancient world, for the Atlantic trade, and for 奴隶制, the institution of slavery itself.
The figurative use runs in the same direction as English. 金钱的奴隶 is a slave to money, 工作的奴隶 a slave to the job, and 房奴 is the modern coinage for someone trapped by a mortgage. In each case the pattern is the thing you serve, then 的, then 奴隶.
One practical caution. 奴隶 is a heavy word and stays that way; it does not soften into the throwaway English sense of I am a slave to good coffee. It is also worth separating from 仆人, a servant, who is paid and free to leave. The traditional form 奴隸 keeps the older right-hand element of 隶.
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奴隶: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "奴隶" (slave): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 48.