bondswoman

¹ American  

[bondz-woom-uhn] / ˈbɒndzˌwʊm ən /

noun

Law.

plural

bondswomen

1. a woman who is bound or who by bond becomes surety for another.

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bondswoman ² American  

[bondz-woom-uhn] / ˈbɒndzˌwʊm ən /

noun

plural

bondswomen

1. bondwoman.

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Etymology

Origin of bondswoman¹

1605–15; bond's woman woman of the bond, i.e., its signer; bondsman ¹, woman

Origin of bondswoman²

bond ² + 's ¹ + woman

Example Sentences

But the family still hadn’t had enough to cover Brittany’s bond, so Ramona had given a bondswoman the titles to her cars and her mother’s wedding rings as collateral.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 13, 2020

To no son of Dermid shall I be delivered, to be fed like a bondswoman; but he who is my pleasure and my pride shall be my guard and my protector.

From Chronicles of the Canongate by Scott, Walter, Sir

I promised to marry her to my man Scipione as soon as possible, since protection of some sort was necessary to a bondswoman who had run away from the land to which she belonged.

From The Fool Errant Being the Memoirs of Francis-Anthony Strelley, Esq., Citizen of Lucca by Hewlett, Maurice Henry

Whereto she will reply 'Thou art the lord and I am the bondswoman.'

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 16 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

Olaf answered promptly, as he looked calmly into his master's face: "My mother is a poor bondswoman, hersir," he said.

From Olaf the Glorious A Story of the Viking Age by Leighton, Robert