Menial Meaning
/ˈmiːni.əl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf or relating to work normally performed by a servant.
adjOf or relating to unskilled work.
Sentence Examples
Tom can only find menial work in this economy.
The job was boring and menial.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new intern was assigned ____ tasks such as filing papers and cleaning offices.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He didn't mind performing ____ tasks like cleaning and filing, as long as it helped the team succeed.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English meyneal, from Anglo-Norman mesnal, from maisnee (“household”), from Vulgar Latin *mānsiōnāta, from Latin mānsiō (“house”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"She hung round him, watching his every look as if she grudged the veriest menial offices from the servants; and she almost scolded him for not eating, when he had done justice enough to the good things set before him to have satisfied even the cook herself."
— 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Arrived at Home”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 85:
"She was not proposing to go out again, so he got her slippers and took off her boots. It delighted him to perform menial offices."
— 1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter LXX, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC:
"Father Brown took the paper without a word, and obediently went to look for the coat; it was not the first menial work he had done in his life."
— 1910 October 1, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, “The Queer Feet”, in The Innocence of Father Brown, London; New York, N.Y.: Cassell and Company, published 1911, →OCLC:
"I didn't see how sweeping and scrubbing a building was any preparation for the trade of electrician; but I did know that in the books all the boys started with the most menial tasks and by making good ultimately won to the ownership of the whole concern."
— 1913 August, Jack London, John Barleycorn, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC:
"For instance, controlling for the above-mentioned variables, migrants to Tangerang or Samarinda (rather than Medan) have a significantly greater chance of getting a craft (as opposed to menial) job."
— 2011, Chris Manning, Sudarno Sumarto, Employment, Living Standards and Poverty in Contemporary Indonesia, →ISBN:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new intern was assigned ____ tasks such as filing papers and cleaning offices.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He didn't mind performing ____ tasks like cleaning and filing, as long as it helped the team succeed.