menial
/ˈmiːni.əl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.84 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
noun
A person who has a subservient nature.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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."
- "menial job"
- "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."
- "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."
- "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."
Etymology
From Middle English meyneal, from Anglo-Norman mesnal, from maisnee (“household”), from Vulgar Latin *mānsiōnāta, from Latin mānsiō (“house”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: meyneal, mesnal, *mānsiōnāta, mānsiō