galley slave

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galley slave

noun galley slaves · galley-slave · galleyslave

historical A slave who rows in a galley (type of ship). "That is a chain of galley slaves, on the way to the galleys by force of the king's orders." "How by force?" asked Don Quixote; "is it possible that the king uses force against anyone?" "I do not say that," answered Sancho, "but that these are people condemned for their crimes to serve by force in t
Similar: gallerian
obsolete, slang A typesetter (person who arranged type in a galley for printing). The "galley slaves" in those days were the genuine article, and by the "chains that bound them" were no doubt the original members of the union.

Translations

Every language

noun slave in a galley

Español	galeote
Français	galérien, forçat
Deutsch	Galeerensklave
Italiano	galeotto

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MLA

"galley slave." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/galley%20slave. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

galley slave. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/galley%20slave

Chicago

"galley slave." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/galley%20slave.

BibTeX

@misc{galley_slave_2026,
  title = {galley slave},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/galley%20slave},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}