enslavement

[ en-sleyv-muhnt ]

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of enslavement¹

enslave ( def ) + -ment ( def )

Example Sentences

In general, the status of a mother dictated her children’s status as free or enslaved.

From Washington Post

Georgetown apologized, instituted an admissions boost to benefit descendants of the enslaved, and announced last year that the school would fund community initiatives that would benefit descendants.

From Washington Post

Here it is a century later, being served in West London to the descendents of those enslaved and indentured people of the West Indies.

From Eater

There are hopes for archaeological research to uncover more about the enslaved peoples’ dwellings.

From Washington Post

The Jesuits were among the biggest planters in Maryland, Rothman has written, and historians have long known that the work of those they enslaved helped maintain and preserve institutions such as what was then Georgetown College.

From Washington Post

Unleashing this plague upon humanity, Yakub initiated the decline and eventual enslavement of the Original Man.

From The Daily Beast

He also recognizes that just as there cannot be absolute freedom, he sees there cannot also be absolute enslavement.

From The Daily Beast

Many of the most important early Christians were women who joined the church to escape a lifetime of near enslavement in marriage.

From The Daily Beast

Even then, it would be a far cry from enslavement, where everything produced is stolen by an outside power.

From The Daily Beast

Any attempt to encroach on it, even by an iota, will ultimately lead to our enslavement by a federal tyranny.

From The Daily Beast

Yet we read of no great destruction or enslavement or migration of the Chanes resulting from the Nahua victory.

From Project Gutenberg

But the Church helped the further enslavement of the workers.

From Project Gutenberg

I execrate the enslavement of the mind of our young children by the ecclesiastics.

From Project Gutenberg

Think of the irony and tragedy of this self-enslavement of the human mind!

From Project Gutenberg

We are considering the subject of the enslavement of the African race in this Republic.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• servitude
• slavery