Added 8 October 2026
bondage
/ˈbɒn.dɪd͡ʒ/ noun
In Latin: captīvitās Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about bondage at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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The state of being enslaved or the practice of slavery.
debt bondage
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The state of lacking freedom; constraint.
He lived in financial bondage to his cocaine habit; no matter how much he earned, it all seemed to disappear up his nose.
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The practice of physically restraining people for sexual pleasure, such as by tying up or shackling.
Their marriage broke up when she discovered he had been engaging in bondage games with a local dominatrix while he was supposedly working out at the gym.
Origin
Inherited from Middle English bondage (“serfdom”), from British Medieval Latin bondagium (“an inferior tenure held by a bond or husbandman”), from Middle English bond (“tenant farmer, serf”), from Old English bonda (“householder, husband, head of a family”), of Old Norse origin. Sense development influenced by the unrelated terms bond and bind.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)