δοῦλος

See also: δούλος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• δῶλος (dôlos) — Cretan, Laconian

Etymology

Related to Mycenaean Greek 𐀈𐀁𐀫 (do-e-ro /⁠dohelos⁠/), possibly from Canaanite *dōʾēlu “servant, attendant” (compare Late Babylonian 𒁕𒀝𒂵𒇻 (daggālu, “subject, one who waits on another, does their bidding”), Aramaic דַּיָּילָא (dayyālā), Hebrew דייל (dayyal, “flight attendant, store clerk”)).

According to Parpola, the word δοῦλος is related to the ethnonym Dahae (found as Δάοι, Δάαι, Δαι or Δάσαι in Greek sources) and thus related to Sanskrit दस्यु (dasyu, “bandit, brigand”) and Sanskrit दास (dāsa) which originally meant 'demon' and later also 'slave' or 'fiend'.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /dûː.los/ → /ˈðu.los/ → /ˈðu.los/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /dûː.los/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈdu.los/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈðu.los/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈðu.los/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈðu.los/

Adjective

δοῦλος • (doûlos) m (feminine δούλη, neuter δοῦλον); first/second declension (Attic, Ionic)

1. slavish, servile, subject

Inflection

First and second declension of δοῦλος; δούλη; δοῦλον (Attic)

Number		Singular				Dual				Plural
Case/Gender		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative		δοῦλος doûlos	δούλη doúlē	δοῦλον doûlon		δούλω doúlō	δούλᾱ doúlā	δούλω doúlō		δοῦλοι doûloi	δοῦλαι doûlai	δοῦλᾰ doûla
Genitive		δούλου doúlou	δούλης doúlēs	δούλου doúlou		δούλοιν doúloin	δούλαιν doúlain	δούλοιν doúloin		δούλων doúlōn	δούλων doúlōn	δούλων doúlōn
Dative		δούλῳ doúlōi	δούλῃ doúlēi	δούλῳ doúlōi		δούλοιν doúloin	δούλαιν doúlain	δούλοιν doúloin		δούλοις doúlois	δούλαις doúlais	δούλοις doúlois
Accusative		δοῦλον doûlon	δούλην doúlēn	δοῦλον doûlon		δούλω doúlō	δούλᾱ doúlā	δούλω doúlō		δούλους doúlous	δούλᾱς doúlās	δοῦλᾰ doûla
Vocative		δοῦλε doûle	δούλη doúlē	δοῦλον doûlon		δούλω doúlō	δούλᾱ doúlā	δούλω doúlō		δοῦλοι doûloi	δοῦλαι doûlai	δοῦλᾰ doûla
Derived forms		Adverb				Comparative				Superlative
		δούλως doúlōs				δουλότερος doulóteros				δουλότᾰτος doulótatos
Notes:		This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Noun

δοῦλος • (doûlos) m (genitive δούλου); second declension (Epic, Attic, Ionic, Koine)

1. born slave or bondman

   Synonym: ἀτμήν (atmḗn)

   • 2022 May 18, Seumas Macdonald, chapter 5, in Linguae Graecae Per Se Illustrata‎^[2]:

     διὰ τί οὗτος ὁ ἀνὴρ ὁ Ῥωμαϊκὸς δοῦλός ἐστιν; ὁ γὰρ πατὴρ τοῦ Τροχίλου ἦν δοῦλος, νῦν δὲ αὐτός ἐστι δοῦλος.

     dià tí hoûtos ho anḕr ho Rhōmaïkòs doûlós estin? ho gàr patḕr toû Trokhílou ên doûlos, nûn dè autós esti doûlos.

     Why is this Roman man a slave? The father of Trokhilos had been a slave, so now he himself is a slave.

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ δοῦλος; τοῦ δούλου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ δοῦλος ho doûlos	τὼ δούλω tṑ doúlō	οἱ δοῦλοι hoi doûloi
Genitive	τοῦ δούλου toû doúlou	τοῖν δούλοιν toîn doúloin	τῶν δούλων tôn doúlōn
Dative	τῷ δούλῳ tôi doúlōi	τοῖν δούλοιν toîn doúloin	τοῖς δούλοις toîs doúlois
Accusative	τὸν δοῦλον tòn doûlon	τὼ δούλω tṑ doúlō	τοὺς δούλους toùs doúlous
Vocative	δοῦλε doûle	δούλω doúlō	δοῦλοι doûloi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Second declension of ὁ δοῦλος; τοῦ δούλου (Ionic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ δοῦλος ho doûlos	τὼ δούλω tṑ doúlō	οἱ δοῦλοι hoi doûloi
Genitive	τοῦ δούλου toû doúlou	τοῖν δούλοιν toîn doúloin	τῶν δούλων tôn doúlōn
Dative	τῷ δούλῳ tôi doúlōi	τοῖν δούλοιν toîn doúloin	τοῖσῐ / τοῖσῐν δούλοισῐ / δούλοισῐν / δούλοις toîsi(n) doúloisi(n) / doúlois
Accusative	τὸν δοῦλον tòn doûlon	τὼ δούλω tṑ doúlō	τοὺς δούλους toùs doúlous
Vocative	δοῦλε doûle	δούλω doúlō	δοῦλοι doûloi
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Synonyms

• ἀνδράποδον (andrápodon)

Derived terms

• ἄδουλος (ádoulos)
• δουλόω (doulóō)
• Θεόδουλος (Theódoulos)
• Χριστόδουλος (Khristódoulos)

 

Descendants

• Greek: δούλος (doúlos)

Further reading

• “δοῦλος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “δοῦλος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• δοῦλος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• δοῦλος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• G1401 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[3], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • bond idem, page 89.
  • bondman idem, page 89.
  • creature idem, page 183.
  • drudge idem, page 254.
  • helot idem, page 395.
  • instrument idem, page 447.
  • menial idem, page 524.
  • minion idem, page 531.
  • obsequious idem, page 566.
  • puppet idem, page 658.
  • satellite idem, page 734.
  • servant idem, page 755.
  • servile idem, page 756.
  • slave idem, page 782.
  • slavish idem, page 783.
  • submissive idem, page 831.
  • subservient idem, page 832.
  • thrall idem, page 869.
  • tool idem, page 880.
  • vassal idem, page 945.