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enslavement

enslavement

17 6.3
Being forced to work for someone as their slave
  • noun
  • /ɪnˈsleɪv.mənt/
  • NSFW
: esclavitud
  • But a life of enslavement is no life at all.
  • the enslavement of Africans
  • the enslavement of Blacks
  • sexual enslavement

It was the worst possible fate, a form of enslavement that not even death could free you from.

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Examples

  • We've waited years to be allowed to fight in this war against our own enslavement, and it will not be won without us.

  • The enslavement of African Americans was theft.

  • First, the enslavement of women by men.

  • But to him, the enslavement of fellow men was just as heinous.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • It was the worst possible fate, a form of enslavement that not even death could free you from.

  • They are under enslavement and that persists for hundreds of years.

  • Her physical enslavement has become psychological as well, a common occurrence in chronic abuse.

    Academic text (2003)
  • One of the main characteristics of the Arab Empire was the enslavement of conquered peoples.

    Academic text (2008)
  • The Nazi blueprint, for the extermination of millions of people, was directly patterned after America's enslavement and segregation of Black people.

  • The history of the United States includes the dark chapter of enslavement that affected millions of people.

Synonyms

captivity
vsenslavement
102 3.7

A state of being kept somewhere and not allowed to leave

is about enforced ownership and loss of freedom, not only confinement
slavery
vsenslavement
63 3.5

A situation where one person controls another person and they have no freedom

is the same state or act described in different wording
servitude
vsenslavement
  • NSFW
31 8.9

To be forced to work for and obey another person like a slave

stresses ownership or slave status rather than punishment or service
bondage
vsenslavement
16 8.6

A state of being controlled and treated like a slave by another person

emphasizes the act or result of making someone owned by another
subjugation
vsenslavement
  • Formal
11 8.4

The act of forcing people or groups to obey

focuses more on making someone owned rather than general domination
enserfment
vsenslavement
  • Archaic
9.9

Making people into serfs who must work for a landowner

covers enforced ownership more broadly, not only landbound status
enchainment
vsenslavement
  • Archaic
9.9

Being tied or locked so someone cannot move

refers to a social or legal condition of enforced ownership rather than mere chains

Antonyms

∞ 1.0

The right to act, speak, or think as you want without being stopped

127 3.9

The act of setting people free from control or unfair treatment

How Enslaved

enslavement
  • NSFW
17 6.3
oppression
120 5.5
restriction
340 3.0

Surface Forms

enslavement singular
enslavements plural

Morphology

enslavement = enslave (transparent) = en + slave + ment

The noun is formed by adding the nominalizing suffix '-ment' to the verb 'enslave', which itself transparently means 'to make into a slave'.

Etymology

Enslavement comes from the parts en- meaning 'to make' and slave, a word that long ago came from the name of the Slavic people because many Slavs were taken and forced to work. So enslavement means 'the state of being a slave' or 'the act of making someone a slave'.