bondsman

¹ American  

[bondz-muhn] / ˈbɒndz mən /

noun

Law.

bondsmen plural

1. a person who by bond becomes surety for another.

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bondsman ² American  

[bondz-muhn] / ˈbɒndz mən /

noun

bondsmen plural

1. bondman.

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bondsman British  

/ ˈbɒndzmən /

noun

1. law a person bound by bond to act as surety for another

2. another word for bondservant

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• bondsmen
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bondsman¹

1725–35; bond's man man of the bond, i.e., its signer; see bond ¹, 's ¹, man

Origin of bondsman²

First recorded in 1250–1300, bondsman is from the Middle English word bondesman. See bond ², 's ¹, man

Explanation

A bondsman is a person or company that loans money to bail someone out of jail while their case is being tried. The word bondsman was historically used to mean "enslaved person," or "man in bondage." Today, it's someone whose job involves issuing loans to defendants who must pay bail to get out of jail. Bail bondsmen are illegal in nearly every country except the U.S. — profiting from the bail system, as bondsmen do, is widely viewed as unethical. As well as loaning money, bondsmen are often responsible for tracking down defendants who fail to repay their loans.