conscription

[kuhn-skrip-shuhn]

noun

1. compulsory enrollment of persons for military or naval service; draft.

2. a compulsory contribution of money to a government during a time of war.

conscription

/ kənˈskrɪpʃən /

noun

1. compulsory military service

Other Word Forms

• conscriptional adjective
• anticonscription noun
• nonconscription noun
• proconscription adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of conscription¹

First recorded in 1350–1400 for earlier sense “piece of writing”; 1795–1805 for current senses; Middle English conscripcioun, from Latin conscrīptiōn-, stem of conscrīptiō “composition, written record, levy of troops,” equivalent to conscript + -ion

Example Sentences

A few days later came another job - to set fire to a van belonging to a conscription centre, film it and run.

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Defence spending in Germany tumbled after the end of the Cold War, while conscription was suspended in 2011.

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Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine sparked a debate about whether to restore mandatory conscription in those parts of Europe that have abolished it.

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At the same time, Putin had also signed a law allowing conscription all year round, previously possible only during limited periods in autumn and spring.

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Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis are taking part in a protest in Jerusalem against changes to a legal exemption for religious students from conscription in the military.

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Related Words

• enrollment 
• induction