bondage

From Middle English bondage (“serfdom”), from British Medieval Latin bondagium (“an inferior tenure held by a bond or husbandman”), from Middle English bond (“a tenant farmer, serf”), from Old English bonda (“a householder, husband, head of a family”), of Old Norse origin.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɑn.dɪd͡ʒ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɒn.dɪd͡ʒ/
• Hyphenation: bond‧age

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bondage (countable and uncountable, plural bondages)

1. The state of being enslaved or the practice of slavery.

   In Judeo-Christian tradition, the Israelites fled bondage at the hands of the Egyptians, only to wander in the wilderness for the next four decades.

   Antonym: freedom

   • 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M. Hill Co., OCLC 297099816:

     "She was the Wicked Witch of the East, as I said," answered the little woman. "She has held all the Munchkins in bondage for many years, making them slave for her night and day. Now they are all set free, and are grateful to you for the favor."

2. (by extension) 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.

   Antonym: freedom

3. 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.

4. (attributive) Applied to clothing with many buckles, zips, etc., associated with punk and goth subcultures.

   bondage trousers; bondage jeans; bondage pants

• BDSM
• S&M

• bondage in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• bondage in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• “subjection” in Roget's Thesaurus, T. Y. Crowell Co., 1911.

• dogbane, endobag, gone bad

Borrowed from English bondage.

• IPA^(key): /ˌbɔnˈdaː.ʒə/
• Hyphenation: bon‧da‧ge
• Rhymes: -aːʒə

bondage f (uncountable)

1. bondage (BDSM sexual practice involving physical restraining)

bondage m (plural bondages)

1. bondage (sexual practice)