enslavement

American  

[en-sleyv-muhnt] / ɛnˈsleɪv mənt /

noun

1. the act of taking or holding someone as a slave.

   Until his death, Bartolomé de las Casas worked to prevent the enslavement of the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean.

2. the state or condition of being held in slavery.

   During their enslavement, African Americans were prevented from learning to read or write.

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Etymology

Origin of enslavement

enslave ( def. ) + -ment ( def. )

Example Sentences

Now Mexico became a land of possible refuge for people fleeing enslavement in Texas or nearby places such as Louisiana.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 4, 2026

Accidents and misfortunes, especially being captured in wartime, could lead to enslavement.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

At the Legacy Museum, visitors experience 400 years of American history that includes enslavement, racial terrorism, and mass incarceration.

From Salon • Apr. 18, 2025

The Passover seder calls on Jews to remember our ancestors’ enslavement in Egypt, but the question of what to do with that memory has never been easy to answer.

From Slate • Apr. 10, 2025

But the enslaved people at Mount Vernon and Monticello were still in bondage, along with the thousands of others who would be forced back into enslavement.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

Related Words

• servitude
• slavery