chattel slavery

noun

: slavery in which a person is owned as a chattel (see chattel sense 2)

chattel slave noun

plural chattel slaves

Examples of chattel slavery in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Like most Democrats at the time, they were aligned with the South, opposed to abolition, and believed that states, rather than the federal government, should decide whether to prohibit chattel slavery. — Christopher Lynch, The Conversation, 1 July 2026

The 1926 Convention focused on chattel slavery, which is the legal ownership of one person by another. — Nicole F. Roberts, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026

The abolition of chattel slavery involved enormous societal upheaval, and eliminating cruelty to animals will require rebuilding our entire food industry. — Ted Chiang, The Atlantic, 3 June 2026

Wilson wrote and spoke often about how the Black family was ripped apart by chattel slavery and how that foundational act of societal violence cascaded and compounded throughout Black life in 20th century America. — Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 26 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1837, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for chattel slavery

• antislavery
• bravery
• knavery
• savory
• proslavery
• unsavory