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Since jugus means "yoke" in Latin, subjugate means literally "bring under the yoke". Farmers control oxen by means of a heavy wooden yoke over their shoulders. In ancient Rome, conquered soldiers, stripped of their uniforms, might actually be forced to pass under an ox yoke as a sign of submission to the Roman victors. Even without an actual yoke, what happens to a population that has come under the control of another can be every bit as humiliating. In dozens of countries throughout the world, ethnic minorities are denied basic rights and view themselves as subjugated by their country's government, army, and police.
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Examples of subjugate in a Sentence
Jonathan Steele, The New York Review of Books, 21 Mar. 2024
Austin cited a grim array of costs to Moscow from its campaign to subjugate Ukraine: 315,000 Russian troops killed or wounded; 20 of its medium- and large-sized naval vessels damaged or destroyed; more than $1 trillion in unrealized economic growth.
—Missy Ryan, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2024
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“Subjugate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subjugate. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
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subjugate
verb
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