servitude

ser·vi·tude

noun \ˈsər-və-ˌtüd, -ˌtyüd\

Definition of SERVITUDE

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 (as a piece of land) owned by one person is subject to a specified use or enjoyment by another

Examples of SERVITUDE

1. <the Fugitive Slave Act had the effect of returning slaves who had made it to freedom in the North to a brutal life of servitude in the South>

Origin of SERVITUDE

Middle English, from Anglo-French servitute, from Latin servitudo slavery, from servus slave

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to SERVITUDE

Synonyms: bondage, enslavement, servility, slavery, thrall, thralldom (or thraldom), yoke

Antonyms: freedom, liberty

Related Words: peonage, serfdom; dependence (also dependance), subjection, subjugation; captivity, enchainment, imprisonment, incarceration

Near Antonyms: emancipation, enfranchisement, liberation, manumission; autonomy, independence, self-government, sovereignty (also sovranty)

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Other Legal Terms

actionable, alienable, carceral, chattel, complicity, decedent, larceny, malfeasance, modus operandi

Rhymes with SERVITUDE

altitude, amplitude, aptitude, attitude, certitude, comfort food, consuetude, crassitude, desuetude, finger food, finitude, fortitude, gratitude, habitude, hebetude, interlude, lassitude, latitude, longitude, magnitude, mansuetude, multitude, negritude, platitude, plenitude, promptitude, pulchritude, quietude, rectitude, seminude, solitude, turpitude, vastitude