conscription

noun

con·​scrip·​tion kən-ˈskrip-shən 

: compulsory enrollment of persons especially for military service : draft

During the war the armed forces were heavily dependent on conscription.

Did you know?

With its scrip- root, conscription means basically writing someone's name on a list—a list that, unfortunately, a lot of people usually don't want to be on. Conscription has existed at least since ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom (27th century B.C.), though universal conscription has been rare throughout history. Forms of conscription were used by Prussia, Switzerland, Russia, and other European powers in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the U.S., conscription was first applied during the Civil War, by both the North and the South. In the North there were pockets of resistance, and the draft led to riots in several cities. The U.S. abandoned conscription at the end of the war and didn't revive it until World War I.

Examples of conscription in a Sentence

young people who face conscription into the army

Recent Examples on the Web

Thus, conscription has become one of the Kremlin's tools to compensate for heavy losses at the front ... —Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2025

Military conscription has also made a comeback on the continent. —Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 30 Mar. 2025

Others are bringing back or expanding mandatory military conscription. —Jacob Turcotte, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Feb. 2025

Over 6 million Ukrainians of conscription age haven't complied with legislation introduced last year to boost dwindling troop numbers fighting Russia. —John Mac Ghlionn, Newsweek, 13 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

see conscript entry 1

First Known Use

1800, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for conscription

• ascription
• decryption
• description
• egyptian
• encryption
• inscription
• prescription
• proscription
• subscription
• transcription
• circumscription
• misdescription