peonage

[ pee-uh-nij ]

noun

1. the condition or service of a peon.
2. the practice of holding persons in servitude or partial slavery, as to work off a debt or to serve a penal sentence.

peonage

/ ˈpiːənɪdʒ; ˈpiːəˌnɪzəm /

noun

1. the state of being a peon
2. a system in which a debtor must work for his creditor until the debt is paid off

peonage

1. A system of forced labor based on debts incurred by workers. Peonage developed particularly in plantation economies, where employers forced laborers to buy from employer-owned stores, pay inflated prices, and stay in debt.

Word History and Origins

Origin of peonage¹

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50; peon ¹ + -age

Example Sentences

David Ruffin, the disgruntled lead singer of The Temptations, complained that the company kept him in “economic peonage.”

From The Daily Beast

I, with a train load of other strikers, went to Louisiana and the whole bunch of us were practically forced into peonage.

From Project Gutenberg

The profit to England from Irish peonage cannot be assessed in terms of trade, or finance, or taxation.

From Project Gutenberg

Had this bill not been bitterly opposed, the Irish people would have been subject to peonage equal to absolute slavery.

From Project Gutenberg

Joseph Biggar had the floor and declared the bill was really a move to steal Irish children and sell them into perpetual peonage.

From Project Gutenberg

Many of these acts betokened an intention on the part of the lawmakers to reduce the freedmen to a state of serfdom or peonage.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bondage
• captivity
• enslavement
• serfdom
• servitude
• subjugation