servant

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: The on reading is れい, and no kun reading is listed. It has 16 strokes. It appears in words for slaves and states of subordination.
• Basic usage: 奴隷 is read どれい and 隷属 is read れいぞく.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• 奴隷 / 隷属
  • 奴隷 means slave and is read どれい. It refers to a person held as a slave.
  • 歴史の授業で奴隷制度について学んだ。 means “In history class, we learned about slavery.”
  • 隷属 means subordination or dependence and is read れいぞく. It refers to subordination to a stronger country or control by another person's ideas.
  • 小国は長い間、強国に隷属していた。 means “The small country was subordinate to a great power for many years.”