penal servitude

nounEnglish Criminal Law.

imprisonment together with hard labor.

Origin of penal servitude

First recorded in 1855–60

Words Nearby penal servitude

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use penal servitude in a sentence

A terrible criminal case was the result, and the man was sentenced to penal servitude for life.
Maupassant Original Short Stories (180), Complete | Guy de Maupassant
Those captured in Stralsund were taken to Brest and sentenced to penal servitude.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte | William Milligan Sloane
The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and sentenced her to five years penal servitude.
The Mysteries of All Nations | James Grant
In the case of any extenuating circumstances, the culprit may be sent to penal servitude with hard labour for twenty years.
The Invasion | William Le Queux
But the most remarkable discrepancy is seen when we come to sentences of penal servitude for terms of years.
The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, November 1879 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for penal servitude

penal servitude

noun

English criminal law (formerly) the imprisonment of an offender and his subjection to hard labour. It was substituted for transportation in 1853 and abolished in 1948: Compare hard labour

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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