chattel

CEFRC1

/ˈt͡ʃæt.l̩/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A personal possession that is not land or a building.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A slave.

Examples

  • Indentured servitude and chattel slavery are two completely different things.

  • Indentured servitude is often contrasted with chattel slavery.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. Tangible, movable property.

More examples

In context

  • Not all his servants and chattels are wraiths!

  • […] although of course the firm had changed hands many times over the centuries, […] But the box has always been part of the chattels, as it were.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

In ancient times, a slave was often considered mere blank with no rights.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English chatel, from Old French chatel, from Medieval Latin capitāle (English capital), from Latin capitālis (“of the head”), from caput (“head”) + -alis (“-al”). Compare the doublet cattle (“cows”), which is from an Anglo-Norman variant. Compare also capital and kith and kine (“all one’s possessions”), which also use “cow” to mean “property”.