captivity

American  

[kap-tiv-i-tee] / kæpˈtɪv ɪ ti /

noun

• captivities
  plural

1. the state or period of being held, imprisoned, enslaved, or confined.

   Synonyms:

   incarceration, confinement, imprisonment, subjection, thralldom, slavery, servitude, bondage

   Antonyms:

   freedom

2. (initial capital letter) Babylonian captivity.

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captivity British  

/ kæpˈtɪvɪtɪ /

noun

1. the condition of being captive; imprisonment

2. the period of imprisonment

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• precaptivity
  noun
• semicaptivity
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• captivities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of captivity

1275–1325; Middle English captivite (< Old French ) < Latin captīvitās. See captive, -ity

Explanation

Captivity is the condition of being trapped or confined. Animals that are kept in zoos are in captivity. A prisoner is in captivity, and a kidnapping victim is also in captivity. If you catch a firefly and keep it in a jar, its life will be one of captivity until you let it go. When you're imprisoned or enslaved, you're captive. Both words come from a Latin source, captivus, "caught" or "taken prisoner," from the root capere, "to take, hold, or seize."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

captivity captivities

Researchers combined DNA analysis with museum specimens, field surveys, citizen science observations, and studies of insects raised in captivity.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026

More than 5.3 million soldiers from the Soviet Red Army were held in German captivity during World War Two and half are thought to have died.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

Mr. Shem Tov is author of “Meeting Myself in Hell,” a memoir of his time in captivity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

A new study suggests that saltwater crocodiles born or raised in captivity may not try to return to their breeding centers once they are released into the wild.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026

In my captivity, I haven't been able to write much.

From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins

What ensues is a dialogue wherein the djinn explains his various loves and captivities to Alithea, who listens enraptured with her wet hair wrapped in a towel.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 24, 2022

The captivities and oppressions suffered by Ours would take long to recount, and so I shall give only one.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 21 of 55 1624 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century. by James Alexander Robertson

I loved to read of Smith's travels, sufferings, captivities, escapes, not only in America but Europe.

From The Virginians by William Makepeace Thackeray

One of the later captivities was that of Israel Donolson, who has told the story himself.

From Stories Of Ohio by William Dean Howells

Compared with it, the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt, their passage through the Red Sea and through Jordan, their captivities and returns, would be as nothing.

From Commentary on Genesis, Vol. II Luther on Sin and the Flood by John Nicholas Lenker

Related Words

• bondage
• confinement
• custody
• imprisonment
• incarceration
• slavery