conscription

noun

con·​scrip·​tion kən-ˈskrip-shən 

: compulsory enrollment of persons especially for military service : draft

During the war the armed forces were heavily dependent on conscription.

Did you know?

With its scrip- root, conscription means basically writing someone's name on a list—a list that, unfortunately, a lot of people usually don't want to be on. Conscription has existed at least since ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom (27th century B.C.), though universal conscription has been rare throughout history. Forms of conscription were used by Prussia, Switzerland, Russia, and other European powers in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the U.S., conscription was first applied during the Civil War, by both the North and the South. In the North there were pockets of resistance, and the draft led to riots in several cities. The U.S. abandoned conscription at the end of the war and didn't revive it until World War I.

Examples of conscription in a Sentence

young people who face conscription into the army

Recent Examples on the Web

South Korea enforces mandatory military conscription to address ongoing threats from rival North Korea. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2024

South Korea maintains a military conscription system due to threats from rival North Korea. —Hyung-Jin Kim, Los Angeles Times, 26 Nov. 2024

Its desperate conscription drive also has the power to prolong its capacity to fight. —Koh Ewe, TIME, 1 Nov. 2024

This landmark legislation marked the first peacetime conscription in U.S. history, requiring American men between the ages of 21 and 35 to register for the draft. —The Arizona Republic, 16 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

see conscript entry 1

First Known Use

1800, in the meaning defined above