slaveholder

American  

[sleyv-hohl-der] / ˈsleɪvˌhoʊl dər /

noun

1. an owner of enslaved people in the institution of chattel slavery.

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slaveholder British  

/ ˈsleɪvˌhəʊldə /

noun

1. a person who owns slaves

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Other Word Forms

• nonslaveholding adjective
• slaveholding noun

Etymology

Origin of slaveholder

First recorded in 1770–80; slave + holder

Example Sentences

In 2020, the murder of George Floyd ignited a nationwide reckoning on race, which prompted communities and institutions across the nation, including California, to remove public monuments of former slaveholders or prominent Confederate figures.

From Los Angeles Times

These actions undermined the slaveholders’ power, destabilized systems of slavery and, in some cases, hastened the enactment of emancipatory laws.

From The Wall Street Journal

Such an account would note that he was a slaveholder, but also that he declared the gradual elimination of slavery to be “among my first wishes.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Before the Civil War, five sitting presidents vacationed there, as did judges, lawyers, diplomats, slaveholders, and merchants—mostly from Southern states.

From Literature

By the late 1850s, Northerners were equally fed up with the Supreme Court, which under Chief Justice Roger B. Taney was seen as a rubber stamp for slaveholders’ goals.

From Los Angeles Times