Menial
/ˈmiːniəl/noun
A person employed to do low-status domestic or routine work; also describing such work.
Did you know?Menial comes from the same root as Latin *manere* (“to stay”), so its oldest sense is tied to people who were part of the household’s permanent inner circle, not to ‘meaningless’ work.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*men-
“to stay, remain”
Latin
Latin
manēre
“to stay, remain, abide”
Late Latin
Late Latin
mānēālis
“belonging to a household or to those who stay in it”
Old French
Old French
mesnial
“domestic, household servant”
Middle English
English
menial
“a household servant; domestic worker”
Modern English
English
menial
“low-status, routine, or unskilled work”