captivity
Americannoun
-
captivities
plural
-
the state or period of being held, imprisoned, enslaved, or confined.
- Synonyms:
- incarceration, confinement, imprisonment, subjection, thralldom, slavery, servitude, bondage
- Antonyms:
- freedom
-
(initial capital letter) Babylonian captivity.
noun
-
the condition of being captive; imprisonment
-
the period of imprisonment
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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."
Vocabulary lists containing captivity
Charlotte's Web
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 1
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"Wild Animals Aren't Pets" and "Let People Own Exotic Animals"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Fifteen critically endangered frogs have hatched at London Zoo, which says it marks the first time the species has been bred in captivity.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
Gershkovich compared his experience to the case of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who died while in Russian captivity in 2024, aged 27.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 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
His depiction of the horrors of being stolen from his village, his captivity on the ship, the Middle Passage, and his life among the enslaved was a true picture.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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 palisaded meeting-house square, the fortified isolated garrison houses, the massacres and captivities are familiar features of New England's history.
From The Frontier in American History by Frederick Jackson Turner
We mean the sense of an integral national being, ever- living in the bosoms of the people of Israel, throughout all their different dispersions and captivities.
From Thaddeus of Warsaw by Jane Porter
It was during their captivities that women often learned the arts and practiced the perilous profession of a scout.
From Woman on the American Frontier A Valuable and Authentic History of the Heroism, Adventures, Privations, Captivities, Trials, and Noble Lives and Deaths of the "Pioneer Mothers of the Republic" by William Worthington Fowler
The church was built to guard the emblems of the two captivities.
From The Formation of Christendom, Volume VI The Holy See and the Wandering of the Nations, from St. Leo I to St. Gregory I by T. W. (Thomas William) Allies
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
