bondage

[bon-dij]

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.

bondage

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of bondage¹

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

Synonym Study

See slavery.

Example Sentences

Within days, they were sold to local buyers and entered a whole new phase of life in bondage.

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The textile mills of Manchester and its surrounding region came to depend on the climate and soils—as well as cruel bondage—in America’s new territory.

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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.

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The history of slavery under Islam involved multiple forms of bondage that stretched across continents and generations.

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She says she was "trafficked, threatened, tortured, and held" in bondage in different locations throughout the world, including Los Angeles, from 2017 to 2023.

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Related Words

• enslavement 
• serfdom 
• servitude 
• subjugation 
• yoke