servitude

noun

ser·​vi·​tude ˈsər-və-ˌtüd 

-ˌtyüd

1

: a condition in which one lacks liberty especially to determine one's course of action or way of life

2

: a right by which something (such as a piece of land) owned by one person is subject to a specified use or enjoyment by another

Did you know?

Servitude is slavery or anything resembling it. The entire black population of colonial America lived in permanent servitude. And millions of the whites who populated this country arrived in "indentured servitude", obliged to pay off the cost of their journey with several years of labor. Servitude comes in many forms, of course: in the bad old days of the British navy, it was said that the difference between going to sea and going to jail was that you were less likely to drown in jail.

Synonyms

• bondage
• enslavement
• servility
• slavery
• thrall
• thralldom
• thraldom
• yoke

Examples of servitude in a Sentence

the Fugitive Slave Act had the effect of returning enslaved people who had made it to freedom in the North to a brutal life of servitude in the South

Recent Examples on the Web

Much like the 13th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution, many states across the country have an exception for slavery or involuntary servitude, allowing it as punishment for a crime written into state law. —Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News, 29 Oct. 2024

State prisons, which employ nearly 40,000 inmates for 16 to 74 cents per hour, would no longer be allowed to use involuntary servitude as punishment for crime or discipline for those who refuse to work. —Shawna Chen, Axios, 16 Oct. 2024

Maria’s childhood is over, early, replaced with unpaid servitude. —Tomas Tranströmer, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. —Brianne Kane, Scientific American, 27 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, "slavery, bondage, feudal allegiance," borrowed from Anglo-French & Late Latin; Anglo-French servitute, borrowed from Late Latin servitūdin-, servitūdō "condition of being a slave," from Latin servus "slave" + -i- -i- + -tūdin-, -tūdō -tude — more at serve entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

servitude

noun

ser·​vi·​tude ˈsər-və-ˌt(y)üd 

: a condition in which one does not have the freedom to determine one's own life

Legal Definition

servitude

noun

ser·​vi·​tude ˈsər-və-ˌtüd, -ˌtyüd 

1

: a condition in which an individual lacks liberty especially to determine his or her course of action or way of life

specifically : the state of being a slave

involuntary servitude

2

: a right by which property owned by one person is subject to a specified use or enjoyment of another

—used chiefly in the civil law of Louisiana see also dominant estate and servient estate at estate sense 4 compare easement

— apparent servitude

: a predial servitude whose existence is perceivable by exterior signs or works (as an aqueduct or road) on the property

— legal servitude

: a predial servitude that is created by a limitation under the law on the use of the property

— natural servitude

: a predial servitude that arises from the situation of the estates (as from one being situated downhill from another)

— personal servitude

: a servitude that burdens property in favor of a specific named person see also right of use, usufruct

— predial servitude

: a servitude that burdens one item of immovable property (as a tract of land) in favor of another

Note: A predial servitude is transferred along with the ownership of the dominant estate, and the servient estate is always taken subject to the servitude. A predial servitude cannot be transferred separately from the dominant estate.