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conscription

 - 3 dictionary results

con⋅scrip⋅tion

  [kuhn-skrip-shuhn]
Use conscription in a Sentence
–noun
1. compulsory enrollment of persons for military or naval service; draft.
2. a compulsory contribution of money to a government during a time of war.
Origin:
1350–1400 for earlier sense “piece of writing”; 1795–1805 for current senses; ME conscripcioun < L conscrīptiōn- (s. of conscrīptiō) a drawing up in writing, levying of troops, equiv. to conscrīpt(us) (see conscript ) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms:
con⋅scrip⋅tion⋅al, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To conscription
con·scrip·tion   (kən-skrĭp'shən)   
n.  

  1. Compulsory enrollment, especially for the armed forces; draft.

  2. A monetary payment exacted by a government in wartime.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

conscription 
1382, "a putting in writing," from M.Fr. conscription, from L. conscriptionem (nom. conscriptio) "a drawing up of a list, enrollment, a levying of soldiers," from conscribere "to enroll," from com- "with" + scribere "to write" (see script). The sense "compulsory enlistment for military service" (1800) is from the French Republic act of Sept. 5, 1798. Technically, a conscription is the enrollment of a fixed number by lot, with options of providing a substitute. The verb conscript is 1813, popularized during U.S. Civil War (1862).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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