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

When Thompson married, his new wife brought enslaved workers with her, including Rit Green. —Ella Jeffries, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Mar. 2025

From the enslaved potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina, to Ann Lowe, the couture dressmaker who made Jacqueline Kennedy's wedding dress, to Gullah Geechee sweetgrass basket makers, to the quilters of Gee's Bend. —Troy McMullen, ABC News, 13 Mar. 2025

Noun

Home Front: Black Women Unionists in the Confederacy The resistance and unionism of enslaved and freed Black women in the midst of the Confederacy is an epic story of sacrifice for nation and citizenship. —JSTOR Daily, 20 Feb. 2025

His family history shows how violence and rape in the era of chattel slavery can be felt over the generations, both for the family of the enslavers and for the enslaved. —Ken Makin, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 Jan. 2025

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

Rhymes for enslaved

• autoclaved
• misbehaved
• behaved
• depraved
• engraved
• unpaved
• unsaved
• braved
• caved
• craved
• paved
• raved