bondage

American  

[bon-dij] / ˈbɒn dɪdʒ /

noun

1. slavery or involuntary servitude; serfdom.

   Synonyms:

   prison, restraint, captivity

2. the state of being bound by or subjected to some external power or control.

   Synonyms:

   imprisonment, confinement, captivity, thralldom

3. the state or practice of being physically restrained, as by being tied up, chained, or put in handcuffs, for sexual gratification.

4. Early English Law. personal subjection to the control of a superior; villeinage.

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bondage British  

/ ˈbɒndɪdʒ /

noun

1. slavery or serfdom; servitude

2. Also called: villeinage.  (in medieval Europe) the condition and status of unfree peasants who provided labour and other services for their lord in return for holdings of land

3. a sexual practice in which one partner is physically bound

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Related Words

See slavery.

Etymology

Origin of bondage

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-Latin bondagium. See bond ², -age

Example Sentences

He recounts marveling at the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism, which released Eastern Europe from bondage and allowed his own country to emerge from the shadow of the Soviet Union.

From The Wall Street Journal

“This festival is intended to lift up our ancestors that came to this country in bondage, terrorized, brutalized,” Ludlow said outside City Hall on Wednesday.

From Los Angeles Times

When enslaved Africans successfully escaped from bondage, they often set up maroon communities.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Middle Passage refers to the forced voyage of people from Africa to the Americas, where they would be made to work in horrendous conditions and held in bondage for the rest of their lives.

From Literature

His 1845 autobiography, a blistering tale of bondage in Maryland and a daring flight to freedom, remains one of history’s fiercest attacks on slavery.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• enslavement
• serfdom
• servitude
• subjugation
• yoke