servitude

noun ser·vi·tude \ ˈsər-və-ˌtüd , -ˌtyüd \

|Updated on: 7 Jul 2018

Definition of servitude

1 : a condition in which one lacks liberty especially to determine one's course of action or way of life

2 : a right by which something (such as a piece of land) owned by one person is subject to a specified use or enjoyment by another

See servitude defined for English-language learners

See servitude defined for kids

Examples of servitude in a Sentence

the Fugitive Slave Act had the effect of returning slaves who had made it to freedom in the North to a brutal life of servitude in the South

Recent Examples of servitude from the Web

From poverty to servitude to mental asylums to finally a life of dusting the houses of upper class women who think having a celebrated murderess around spices up the tea time conversation, nothing about life has been fair to Grace.

— lincoln michel, GQ, "Alias Grace Is the Perfect Netflix Show to Watch After The Handmaid's Tale," 30 June 2018
Black people had snapped their moorings to servitude and arrived at the advanced subjectivity lushly evinced by their art: their poems and paintings, their novels and spirituals.

— tobi haslett, The New Yorker, "The Man Who Led the Harlem Renaissance—and His Hidden Hungers," 11 May 2018
Out of context, these are all traditionally seen as serviceable gestures that reminds many of the historical inequalities of labor that black women endured: slavery, indentured servitude, and so on.

— alisha acquaye, Teen Vogue, "What Social Media Showed Me About Perceptions of Black Women in Beauty," 18 June 2018
Even weirder is the first prequel movie's conceit that Anakin Skywalker, himself a child slave, built C-3PO, again without a second thought about confining his creation to its own (eternal) life of servitude.

— dan hassler-forest, chicagotribune.com, "'Solo' gets one thing right: The droids in 'Star Wars' are basically slaves," 3 June 2018
As retribution, Amal is forced into indentured servitude behind the walls of the Khan estate.

— meghan cox gurdon, WSJ, "Of Brave Children Everywhere," 4 May 2018
Across history, this was often in the context of colonialism, indentured servitude and slavery.

— nicole creanza, Scientific American, "How People Talk Now Holds Clues about Human Migration Centuries Ago," 4 Mar. 2018
THE 13th Amendment to the constitution has prohibited slavery and indentured servitude in America since 1865.

— The Economist, "How convict labour increased inequality," 12 Apr. 2018
That vision is not inclusive of the people—namely women and the rural poor—for whom manufacturing used to be physical servitude.

— josephine livingstone, The New Republic, "Does Crafting Make People Happier?," 9 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'servitude.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Servitude is slavery or anything resembling it. The entire black population of colonial America lived in permanent servitude. And millions of the whites who populated this country arrived in "indentured servitude", obliged to pay off the cost of their journey with several years of labor. Servitude comes in many forms, of course: in the bad old days of the British navy, it was said that the difference between going to sea and going to jail was that you were less likely to drown in jail.

Origin and Etymology of servitude

Middle English, from Anglo-French servitute, from Latin servitudo slavery, from servus slave

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

servitude Synonyms

Other Legal Terms

actionable, alienable, carceral, chattel, complicity, decedent, larceny, malfeasance, modus operandi

SERVITUDE Defined for English Language Learners

servitude

noun

Definition of servitude for English Language Learners

: the condition of being a slave or of having to obey another person

SERVITUDE Defined for Kids

servitude

noun ser·vi·tude \ ˈsər-və-ˌtüd , -ˌtyüd \

Definition of servitude for Students

: the condition of being a slave or of having to obey another

Law Dictionary

servitude

noun ser·vi·tude \ ˈsər-və-ˌtüd, -ˌtyüd \

legal Definition of servitude

1 : a condition in which an individual lacks liberty especially to determine his or her course of action or way of life; specifically : the state of being a slave

involuntary servitude

2 : a right by which property owned by one person is subject to a specified use or enjoyment of another —used chiefly in the civil law of Louisiana — see also dominant estate and servient estate at estate 4 — compare easement

— apparent servitude

: a predial servitude whose existence is perceivable by exterior signs or works (as an aqueduct or road) on the property

— legal servitude

: a predial servitude that is created by a limitation under the law on the use of the property

— natural servitude

: a predial servitude that arises from the situation of the estates (as from one being situated downhill from another)

— personal servitude

: a servitude that burdens property in favor of a specific named person — see also right of use, usufruct

— predial servitude

: a servitude that burdens one item of immovable property (as a tract of land) in favor of another

Note: A predial servitude is transferred along with the ownership of the dominant estate, and the servient estate is always taken subject to the servitude. A predial servitude cannot be transferred separately from the dominant estate.