Servitude is the condition of being a slave or of being completely under the control of someoneelse.
...a life of servitude.
Synonyms: slavery, bondage, enslavement, bonds More Synonyms of servitude
2. See also penal servitude
servitude in British English
(ˈsɜːvɪˌtjuːd)
noun
1.
the state or condition of a slave; bondage
2.
the state or condition of being subjected to or dominated by a person or thing
servitude to drink
3. law
a burden attaching to an estate for the benefit of an adjoining estate or of some definite person
See also easement
4. short for penal servitude
Word origin
C15: via Old French from Latin servitūdō, from servus a slave
servitude in American English
(ˈsɜrvəˌtud; ˈsɜrvəˌtjud)
noun
1.
the condition of a slave, serf, or the like; subjection to a master; slavery or bondage
2.
work imposed as punishment for crime
3. Law
the burden placed upon the property of a person by a specified right another hasin its use
SYNONYMY NOTE: servitude refers to compulsory labor or service for another, often, specif., such labor imposedas punishment for crime; , slavery implies absolute subjection to another person who owns and completely controls one;, bondage originally referred to the condition of a serf bound to his master's land, but nowimplies any condition of subjugation or captivity
OPPOSITES: freedom, liberty
Word origin
ME < MFr < L servitudo < servus, slave: see serf
Examples of 'servitude' in a sentence
servitude
Then began the next chapter in a life of servitude.
Christianity Today (2000)
It came to mean the general system of penal servitude.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
He had found a design in those years of servitude.
Christina Dodd SOMEDAY MY PRINCE (1999)
Yesterday he was jailed for two years in the first domestic servitude case involving a man and wife.
The Sun (2016)
They were arrested on suspicion of being involved in forced labour, domestic servitude and false imprisonment.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
For the survivors, a life of servitude in a strange land was the reward.
Stearns, Peter N. World History: Patterns of Change and Continuity (1995)
Early on the morning she was due to hang, her sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Finally we explored the industrial revolution - and how that led to the abolition of domestic servitude for women.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
It was boring enough to live a life of domestic servitude, let alone to have to read about it.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The picture of what the women are alleged to have suffered has changed from initial descriptions of domestic servitude to a form of mental coercion and control.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
I personally think'Would you like to live in penal servitude or become a free country?
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
(noun)
Definition
slavery or bondage
a life of servitude
Synonyms
slavery
My people have survived 300 years of slavery.
bondage
A terrible life of bondage was compounded by a guilty secret.
enslavement
Free people will never choose their own enslavement.
bonds
chains
obedience
thrall
Our children will be even more in the thrall of the silicon chip.
subjugation
serfdom
vassalage
thraldom
Additional synonyms
in the sense of bondage
Definition
slavery
A terrible life of bondage was compounded by a guilty secret.
Synonyms
slavery,
imprisonment,
captivity,
confinement,
yoke,
duress,
servitude,
enslavement,
subjugation,
serfdom,
subjection,
vassalage,
thraldom,
enthralment
in the sense of enslavement
Free people will never choose their own enslavement.
Synonyms
subjugation,
slavery,
suppression,
tyranny,
obedience,
bondage,
thrall,
servitude,
serfdom,
vassalage,
thraldom
in the sense of thrall
Definition
the state of being completely in the power of, or spellbound by, a person or thing
Our children will be even more in the thrall of the silicon chip.