slavery

noun

slav·​ery ˈslā-v(ə-)rē How to pronounce slavery (audio)
plural slaveries
1
a
: the practice or institution of holding people as chattel involuntarily and under threat of violence
In reality, though, African forms of slavery didn't compare with the racialized industrial variants that Western empires unleashed upon the world. … Here in the United States … the enslaved were relegated to subhuman status for generations.Julian Lucas
Slavery officially ended in New Jersey in 1804, but in practice some people remained slaves until 1865, when the ratification of the 13th Amendment formally abolished slavery in the United States.Suzanne Travers
see also chattel slavery
b
: the state of a person who is forced usually under threat of violence to labor for the profit of another
[Frederick] Douglass, born a slave in Maryland in 1818, escaped from slavery at the age of twenty and quickly emerged as a major orator and leader of the antislavery crusade.Manning Marable
The organization says it has helped 135 victims escape sex slavery over the past 10 years.Audrey McAvoy
c
: a situation or practice in which people are coerced to work under conditions that are exploitative
… the unit has freed more than 26,000 workers nationwide from debt slavery. Under the practice, common in the Amazon, poor laborers are lured to remote spots where they rack up debts to plantation owners who charge exorbitant prices for everything from food to transportation.Vivian Sequera
… a labor union for prisoners that aims "to end prison slavery," announced the start of a nationwide strike inside U.S. prisons. Wages for incarcerated workers are typically measured in cents per hour, and several states … use the labor of prisoners without paying them at all.Daniel A. Gross
see also wage slavery
2
: submission to a dominating influence
slavery to habit
… it will probably be left to the next administration to act hopefully in a bold and visionary manner to free us from our slavery to oil.Alon Ben-Meir

Examples of slavery in a Sentence

Frederick Douglass was central advocate for the abolition of slavery. My dad put up with the slavery of working in the coal mines every day of his adult life.
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.
The tragedy of slavery is also explored here, including an award-winning exhibit called Slavery and Cotton in the Shoals with work by textile artist Valerie S. Goodwin. Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 5 July 2025 Douglass’s decision to speak on July 5, deliberately after Independence Day celebrations, symbolically underscored his argument: America’s celebration of freedom was bitterly ironic and deeply hypocritical in the context of slavery and racial oppression. Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 4 July 2025 The buyer was billionaire art collector and hedge fund founder Kenneth Griffin, who intends to loan the document, which abolished slavery when it was ratified in 1865, to an American institution, according to Sotheby’s, the auction house that organized the sale. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 July 2025 The South Carolina native is a collector of artifacts connected to the history of slavery, from branding irons and shackles to postcards depicting lynchings. Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 3 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for slavery

Word History

First Known Use

1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Time Traveler
The first known use of slavery was in 1548

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Cite this Entry

“Slavery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slavery. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

slavery

noun
slav·​ery ˈslāv-(ə-)rē How to pronounce slavery (audio)
1
2
a
: the state of a person who is held in forced servitude
b
: the practice of slaveholding

More from Merriam-Webster on slavery

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