slavery[slā′vər ē, slāv′rē]
- Slavery is someone owning another person.
An example of slavery is the ownership of blacks by whites before the Civil War.
- the owning or keeping of slaves as a practice or institution; slaveholding
- the condition of being a slave; bondage; servitude
- a condition of submission to or domination by some influence, habit, etc.
- hard work or toil like that done by slaves; drudgery
- The condition in which one person is owned as property by another and is under the owner's control, especially in involuntary servitude.
- a. The practice of owning slaves.b. A mode of production in which slaves constitute the principal work force.
- The condition of being subject or addicted to a specified influence.
- A condition of hard work and subjection: wage slavery.
See also captivity.abolitionism the movement for the abolition of slavery, especially Negro slavery in the U.S. —abolitionist, n. helotism the condition or quality of being a helot; serfdom or slavery. Also helotage, helotry. indentureship 1. the state or period of being indentured or apprenticed; apprenticeship. 2. the state or period of being a servant bound to service for a specified time in return for passage to a colony. servilism a doctrine that advocates slavery. —servility, n.
(usually uncountable, plural slaveries)
From slave +"Ž -ery.