bondage
slavery or involuntary servitude; serfdom.
the state of being bound by or subjected to some external power or control.
the state or practice of being physically restrained, as by being tied up, chained, or put in handcuffs, for sexual gratification.
Early English Law. personal subjection to the control of a superior; villeinage.
Origin of bondage
1synonym study For bondage
word story For bondage
The element bond- comes from the Middle English noun bond(e) “tenant farmer (as opposed to a freeholder),” which developed from Old English bonda “husband, householder, head of a family,” a borrowing from Old Norse bōndi, from older boandi “freeborn farmer,” a noun use of the present participle of the verb būa, bōa “to live; make ready, prepare.” The suffix -age comes partly from Anglo-French and Old French -age, from the Medieval Latin noun suffix -āgium, from Latin -āticum.
The sense “the state or practice of being physically restrained for sexual gratification” first appeared in the 1960s.
Other words for bondage
Words Nearby bondage
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use bondage in a sentence
Such complexity is the essence of this incisive but unimaginatively adapted story, which subverts the overly simplistic binaries of bondage and liberty, oppressed and oppressor, abolitionist and enslaver.
The Long Song Is a Brilliant Tale of Slavery’s End in Jamaica, Frustratingly Told | Judy Berman | January 29, 2021 | TimeIt started with a much older law, one that shaped a more complex legacy of human bondage.
Loopholes have preserved slavery for more than 150 years after abolition | Caroline Kisiel | January 27, 2021 | Washington PostRepublicans, based in the South, shot back that their rivals were nothing less than monarchists — stifling free speech, repressing the people and endangering slavery by recognizing the Haitian rebels who had thrown off their bondage.
Examples include freedom from slavery, bondage, and oppression.
Washington kept him and the other enslaved members of the president’s house in bondage by circumventing the Pennsylvania abolition law that allowed them to petition for freedom if they remained in the state more than six months.
George Washington’s 1795 Thanksgiving celebrated liberty. But the chef behind the feast had none. | Ramin Ganeshram | November 19, 2020 | Washington Post
Appearances mostly occurred in crime novels like “bondage and boyflesh” by Newt Jennings.
A Brief History of the Phrase 'F*ck the Police' | Rich Goldstein | August 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut the craziest thing I did was the stuff I did for Device bondage, which is actually super fun.
Sasha Grey on Her Novel ‘The Juliette Society,’ James Deen, and More | Marlow Stern | August 27, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTPorn star Holly Sampson, whose work includes Descent Into bondage and Diary of a Horny Housewife.
The day will come, however, when people will think of him as the man who wrote Of Human bondage.
When Winter Comes to Main Street | Grant Martin OvertonFreedom gotten by the Sword is an 140 established bondage to some part or other of the Creation.
The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth | Lewis H. BerensBecause it brings in Kingly bondage again, and is the occasion of all quarrels and oppressions.
The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth | Lewis H. BerensNo man shall either give hire or take hire for his work; for this brings in Kingly bondage.
The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth | Lewis H. Berensbondage, serfdom, even slavery, seemed to be sanctioned by the Bible.
The Influence of the Bible on Civilisation | Ernst Von Dobschutz
British Dictionary definitions for bondage
/ (ˈbɒndɪdʒ) /
slavery or serfdom; servitude
Also called: villeinage (in medieval Europe) the condition and status of unfree peasants who provided labour and other services for their lord in return for holdings of land
a sexual practice in which one partner is physically bound
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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