conscription

noun

con·​scrip·​tion kən-ˈskrip-shən How to pronounce conscription (audio)
: 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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Sweden, which also became a NATO member after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, reinstituted conscription in 2017. Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 July 2025 With team members liable for conscription, and constant financial pressures, continuity depends on a mix of good fortune and adaptability. Dominique Soguel, Christian Science Monitor, 17 June 2025 Even more Russians fled their country out of opposition to the war or to avoid conscription after Russia launched its partial mobilization in September 2022 and began drafting hundreds of thousands of men. Alexander Cooley, Foreign Affairs, 16 Apr. 2025 Norway introduced its own law applying military conscription to both sexes in 2013. James Brooks, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for conscription

Word History

Etymology

see conscript entry 1

First Known Use

1800, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of conscription was in 1800

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Cite this Entry

“Conscription.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conscription. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.

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