helot

Dictionary: hel·ot (hĕl'ət) pronunciation

Helot One of a class of serfs in ancient Sparta, neither a slave nor a free citizen.
A person in servitude; a serf.

[From Greek Heilōtes, pl. of Heilōs, Heilōt-.]

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Any of the native peoples of Laconia and Messenia conquered and controlled by Sparta. They were state-owned serfs or slaves who worked the land to feed and clothe the Spartan population, whom they vastly outnumbered. Their masters could not free them or sell them. The Spartans lived in constant fear of a helot revolt and annually declared war on them to legally keep them in place by force. During wartime, helots attended their masters on campaigns, serving as troops and as rowers in the fleet. The Messenian helots were liberated c. 370 BC, those in Laconia not until the 2nd century BC.

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WordNet: helot

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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: (medieval Europe) a person who is bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord
Synonyms: serf, villein

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		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more