servitude
[ sur-vi-tood, -tyood ]
/ ˈsɜr vɪˌtud, -ˌtyud /
noun
slavery or bondage of any kind: political or intellectual servitude.
compulsory service or labor as a punishment for criminals: penal servitude.
Law. a right possessed by one person to use another's property.
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RELATED WORDS
serfdom, enslavement, bondage, subjugation, thralldom, thrall, obedience, confinement, yoke, subjection, peonage, bonds, vassalage
Nearby words
- servilely,
- servility,
- serving,
- servite,
- servitor,
- servius tullius,
- servlet,
- servo,
- servo system,
- servo-
Origin of servitude
1425–75; late Middle English < Late Latin servitūdō, equivalent to servi-, combining form of servus slave + -tūdō, -tude
SYNONYMS FOR servitude
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for servitude
servitude
/ (ˈsɜːvɪˌtjuːd) /
noun
the state or condition of a slave; bondage
the state or condition of being subjected to or dominated by a person or thingservitude to drink
law a burden attaching to an estate for the benefit of an adjoining estate or of some definite personSee also easement
short for penal servitude
Word Origin for servitude
C15: via Old French from Latin servitūdō, from servus a slave
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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servitude
early 15c., "condition of being enslaved," from Old French servitude, servitute (13c.) and directly from Late Latin servitudo "slavery," from Latin servus "a slave" (see serve (v.)) + abstract noun suffix.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper