indentured
adjective
in·den·tured
in-ˈden-chərd 
: 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
Richard UlackExamples 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
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.
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Cite this Entry
“Indentured.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indentured. Accessed 1 May. 2024.
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