CAPTIVE AND SLAVE:

THE   DIFFERENCE  IN  MEANING

CAPTIVE

etymology:  Middle English, from Latin captivus, from captus, past participle of capere (= to take)

date: 14th century

meaning:  a person taken and held as or as if a prisoner of war  ~  one kept in confinement or under restraint and whose situation makes free choice or departure difficult  ~ a person held under the control of another but having the appearance of some independence
 

SLAVE

etymology:  Middle English sclave, from Anglo-French or Medieval Latin; Anglo-French esclave, from Medieval Latin sclavus, from Sclavus Slavic; from the frequent enslavement of Slavs in central Europe during the early Middle Ages

 date: 14th century

 meaning:  a person held in servitude as the personal property or chattel of another and is bound to absolute obedience  ~  a person who is completely subservient to a dominating influence.

The essential difference between the captive and the slave is that the slave is regarded as the legal property/chattel of another (i.e. his owner) whereas the captive is not and may hope to be set free in a variety of ways (i.e. a ransom paid, an exchange made, a good-will setting free, the defeat of the captor, etc.)

 It should be noted that while there are two separate words to express these two different realities

in English:  captive & slave

in French:  captif & esclave

in  German:  Gefangene & Skalve

in Spanish:  cautivo & esclavo

there is only one word – schiavo – in Italian to express both realities.  The word cattivo in Italian means “bad, evil, wicked”.  To compensate this lack, the Latin word captivus is sometimes used.

The 1198 Trinitarian Rule of Life uses the Latin word captivus 5 times (c. 2, c. 13, c. 20).  It is more precisely defined for Trinitarians in the relative clause which modifies it in chapter 2: qui sunt incarcerati pro fide Christi a paganis.  The Medieval Latin word sclavus (= slave) is not used at all nor does the Rule use the Latin word servus (= slave, servant) anywhere.   It does use the verb servire 2 times:  once in reference to a candidate serving others in ministry (c. 31 = servire) and once in reference to the Brothers serving at the Canonical Hours (c. 39 = servientium). 

                                                                                                                         Joseph J. Gross, OSST
Trinitarian History Studies