bondage

noun

bond·​age ˈbän-dij How to pronounce bondage (audio)
plural bondages
1
: a state of being bound usually by compulsion (as of law): such as
a
: slavery, serfdom
Historically, the two most prevalent types of legal bondage were serfdom and chattel slavery.Michael Bush
More than 150 years after enslaved Africans and their descendants were released from bondage through ratification of the 13th Amendment, the slavery exception continues to permit the exploitation of labor by incarcerated individuals.Aaron Morrison
In the Thar desert of Pakistan, generations of families are trapped in debt bondage, forced to work for years in brick kilns to repay loans from the kiln owners.Isaiah Reynolds et al.
b
: servitude or subjugation to a controlling person or force
How can one company control the world's seed supply? When one gigantic corporate entity is allowed to block farmers from planting a seed without compensating that monopoly, the farmers are held in bondage to uncontrolled price increases.John Boyd
Do you have the freedom of self-control or are you in bondage to your desires?David Brooks
2
: sadomasochistic sexual practices involving the physical restraint of one partner

Examples of bondage in a Sentence

a population held in bondage
Recent Examples on the Web And at a time in Florida when books are being banned, schools are requiring permission slips for Black history events and the state’s educational standards say that enslaved Africans benefited from their bondage, their purpose has become even more critical. C. Isaiah Smalls Ii, Miami Herald, 1 Mar. 2024 Now, Acworth is working with engineers to train an image-generation model on pictures of BDSM, an acronym for bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism. Tatum Hunter, Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2024 On May 13, 1862, Smalls had escaped from bondage by seizing command of a Confederate steamer, the CSS Planter, in Charleston, South Carolina, and sailing to the Union blockading fleet. Jonathan W. White, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2024 The results arrived six weeks later, revealing a personal history that Hammons shares with many descendants of people brought to the U.S. in bondage from Africa and sold into slavery. Daniel Gonzalez, The Arizona Republic, 26 Feb. 2024 In the past year alone, books have been banned, permission slips have been required for students to learn about Black history and state curriculum standards have been changed to reflect that enslaved Africans benefited from their bondage. C. Isaiah Smalls Ii, Miami Herald, 24 Feb. 2024 The end of the occupation and the restoration and guarantee of human rights for all will free Palestinians from their traumatic intergenerational bondage, inhumanity and oppression. Doris Bittar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Jan. 2024 Many women and children, suddenly freed from bondage, were dying. Dominique Janee, Scientific American, 2 Nov. 2023 The Florida governor has received bipartisan criticism over the state’s African-American history curriculum directing middle-school teachers to highlight useful skills that slaves may have developed while in bondage. Alyssa Lukpat, WSJ, 11 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bondage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from bonde customary tenant, from Middle English

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of bondage was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near bondage

Cite this Entry

“Bondage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bondage. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

bondage

noun
bond·​age ˈbän-dij How to pronounce bondage (audio)
: the state of being a slave or serf

More from Merriam-Webster on bondage

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