indentured

adjective

in·​den·​tured in-ˈden-chərd How to pronounce indentured (audio)
: required by contract to work for another for a certain period of time
Composed mainly of indentured laborers, the first migrant community was established on Mauritius by Indian emigrants in 1834, the year in which slavery was abolished in the British empire.Richard Ulack
see also indentured servant

Examples of indentured in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The young man probably arrived from England in the 1630s as a cabin boy or an indentured servant. Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Dec. 2023 Both the levelers among the founders and their critics agreed on where the wealth necessary for the new nation would come from: the expropriation of Native Americans, as well as from slave and indentured labor. Danielle Allen, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2015 But most indentured people really weren’t given a choice. Logan Jaffe, ProPublica, 19 June 2020

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

Word History

First Known Use

1665, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of indentured was in 1665

Dictionary Entries Near indentured

Cite this Entry

“Indentured.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indentured. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

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