servitude

[sur-vi-tood, -tyood]

noun

1. slavery or bondage of any kind.

   political or intellectual servitude.

   Synonyms: thralldom, serfdom
   Antonyms: liberty

2. compulsory service or labor as a punishment for criminals.

   penal servitude.

3. Law.,  a right possessed by one person to use another's property.

servitude

/ ˈsɜːvɪˌtjuːd /

noun

1. the state or condition of a slave; bondage

2. the state or condition of being subjected to or dominated by a person or thing

   servitude to drink

3. law a burden attaching to an estate for the benefit of an adjoining estate or of some definite person See also easement

4. short for penal servitude

Word History and Origins

Origin of servitude¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Late Latin servitūdō, equivalent to servi-, combining form of servus “slave” + -tūdō, -tude

Word History and Origins

Origin of servitude¹

C15: via Old French from Latin servitūdō, from servus a slave

Synonym Study

See slavery.

Example Sentences

Indian outsourcing firms have systematically exploited the H-1B system, turning it into what critics call an “outsourcing visa” that enables wage theft and creates indentured servitude conditions for foreign workers.

From Los Angeles Times

Sorority girls are indulged a brief moment of feeling alive, but only because, in this right-wing narrative, white sorority girls are supposedly all conservative and will soon submit to their lives of servitude.

From Salon

The reparations legislation that has failed to advance includes a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have banned prisons from requiring inmates to work, which some consider state-sanctioned slavery or indentured servitude.

From Los Angeles Times

And more than the horror or the humility, or the primal fear of servitude to robot overlords, they remind me of when I was young.

From Los Angeles Times

If we fail to acknowledge this, AI risks becoming a tool monopolized by a wealthy elite, precipitating an "AI-enhanced technofeudalism" that deepens global inequality and consigns most of humanity to servitude.

From Salon

Related Words

• bondage 
• enslavement 
• serfdom 
• subjugation