enslaved

1 of 3

en·​slaved

past tense and past participle of enslave

enslaved

2 of 3

adjective

en·​slaved in-ˈslāvd 

en-

1

: held involuntarily and forced under threat of violence or death to work without pay for the profit of another

… a trove of historical records—birth registries, bills of sale, manumissions, wills and estate inventories—to demonstrate that in the late 1700s and early 1800s, dozens of enslaved people lived in what's now Cedar Grove …

—Shane Paul Neil

Much of the existing literature is about what enslaved people experienced, but if we attempt to add their engaged understanding, this narrative changes. Enslaved people … had very particular ideas about their value, ideas that differed greatly from their enslavers.

—Daina Ramey Berry

Slavery is not an indefinable mass of flesh. It is a particular, specific enslaved woman, whose mind is active as your own, whose range of feeling is as vast as your own; who prefers the way the light falls in one particular spot in the woods … and knows, inside herself, that she is as intelligent and capable as anyone.

—Ta-Nehisi Coates

2

: of, relating to, involving, or used for slavery or enslaved people

As demand for cotton grew as a result of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, so too did the demand for enslaved labor in the South and, in turn, the demand for new land to cultivate.

—Jamelle Bouie

A Gullah interpreter of enslaved life at Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens, she [Gloria Barr Ford] tells stories and sings spirituals outside of the nine brick cabins that used to be slave quarters.

—Tracey Teo

enslaved

3 of 3

noun

Phrases

the enslaved

plural in construction

—used collectively for people held in slavery and especially those captured, sold, or born into chattel slavery

King Charles has for the first time signalled his support for research into the monarchy's historical links with transatlantic slavery. But more should be done to listen and respond to the descendants of the enslaved.

—Brooke Newman

A steady stream of escaped enslaved men and women threatened the defense of chattel slavery, as the formerly enslaved unsettled the ideological foundations of the South with their own lives and testimony.

—Jamelle Bouie

Examples of enslaved in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The irons intentionally recall the shape of the ships used to transport enslaved Africans abroad, showing that these women are inseparable from centuries-old horrors. —The Artnews Awards Jury, ARTnews.com, 4 Dec. 2024

Jackson, and so many others in the Knightdale community, had no idea that the wooded land behind the community clubhouse pool was a burial ground for enslaved Black people. —Sade Green, TIME, 4 Dec. 2024

Noun

Voluntary immigrants from Africa are included in this community and currently comprise 2.1 million people in the United States alone, but the majority of Black people in the diaspora are descendants of the enslaved. —Essence, 25 Nov. 2024

The word of a vestal can mean freedom for the enslaved or the condemned, even if only the head of the order can ultimately grant it. —Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 18 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

from past participle of enslave

Noun

derivative of enslaved entry 2

First Known Use

Adjective

1618, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1647, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing enslaved

• the enslaved