conscription

con·scrip·tion

noun \kən-ˈskrip-shən\

Definition of CONSCRIPTION

: compulsory enrollment of persons especially for military service : draft

Examples of CONSCRIPTION

1. young people who face conscription into the army

First Known Use of CONSCRIPTION

1800

Other Military Terms

bivouac, logistics, petard, salient, sally, supernumerary, tactical

Rhymes with CONSCRIPTION

ascription, conniption, decryption, description, Egyptian, encryption, inscription, prescription, proscription, subscription, transcription

conscription

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Compulsory enrollment for service in a country's armed forces. It has existed at least since the Egyptian Old Kingdom in the 27th century BC. It usually takes the form of selective service rather than universal conscription. (The latter generally refers to compulsory military service by all able-bodied men between certain ages, though a few countries—notably Israel—have also drafted women.) In the 19th century Prussia's system of building up a large standing army through conscription became the model for competing European powers. During the American Civil War both the federal government and the Confederacy instituted a draft, but the U.S. did not use it again until entering World War I in 1917. Like the U.S., Britain abandoned conscription at the end of World War I but reverted to it when World War II threatened. During the ensuing Cold War, Britain retained the draft until 1960 and the U.S. until 1973. See also U.S. Army.

Variants of CONSCRIPTION

conscription or draft