奴隷

• 読み: どれい
• ローマ字: dorei
• 漢字の分解: 奴 (do) — servant, fellow (derogatory); 隷 (rei) — slave, serf, subordinate
• 発音: /doɾeː/

意味

Slave; person in slavery; one subjected to servitude. Also used figuratively for extreme subjugation.

A compound with a long history in East Asian texts. 奴隷 describes the institution of chattel slavery as well as metaphorical subjugation (e.g., 労働の奴隷 — slave to work). In contemporary Japanese, it appears in historical, political, and social criticism contexts. The compound 奴隷制度 refers to the institution of slavery, discussed in the context of global history and modern trafficking (現代奴隷制).

例文

1. 古代ローマ社会の経済は奴隷労働に依存していた。
2. 現代奴隷制とも言える強制労働の問題が国際社会で深刻視されている。
3. 長時間労働を強いられる社員を会社の奴隷と呼ぶ声もある。

使い方ガイド

場面: history, human rights, social criticism, labour

トーン: negative

起源と歴史

From 奴 (do/yatsu) — servant, fellow (a derogatory term for persons), and 隷 (rei) — slave, serf. Both characters have negative connotations of subordination. Used in classical Chinese texts and adopted early into Japanese to describe servile status.

文化的背景

時代: Ancient–Modern

世代: Adults

社会的背景: General