menial

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Describing work that is boring, low in status, and needs little skill.

   She started out doing menial tasks like cleaning and filing.

2. 2
   noun

   A servant who does humble or low-status work.

   The lord treated his menials harshly and paid them almost nothing.

From Middle English meyneal, from Anglo-Norman mesnal, from maisnee (“household”), from Vulgar Latin *mānsiōnāta, from Latin mānsiō (“house”).

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