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

However, by the 18th century the center of enslavement had shifted farther north, toward the sugar plantations of the Caribbean, and the numbers dropped in Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times

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

From The Wall Street Journal

When West Africans, primarily Yoruba people, were enslaved and forced to Cuba during the transatlantic enslavement trade, they carried their cosmologies with them.

From Los Angeles Times

“But if your ancestors were enslaved in this country, then there’s a direct lineage-based tie to harms that were inflicted during enslavement and in the after lives thereafter.”

From Los Angeles Times

Now, the story leaves off, still focused on the woman who escaped the bonnet and cloak and not about the trappings of her enslavement.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• servitude
• slavery