servitude
n.the state of being a slave or being forced to obey someone else. It describes a life where you have no freedom and must work for another person.
n.the state of being a slave or completely subject to someone more powerful. Often used in legal or historical contexts to describe involuntary labor or the lack of personal autonomy.
“The prisoners were forced into a life of servitude.”
“After the war, many people were sold into domestic servitude and lost all their legal rights.”
“The philosopher argued that extreme economic dependence on a single employer is merely a modern, more subtle form of involuntary servitude.”
Often paired with the verb 'sold into' or 'forced into'.
“At the time the group forced its captives into sexual slavery, domestic servitude or used them as suicide bombers.”
“Prosecutors said that the women acted in "servitude" to Liu and his family, and their lives were tightly controlled by Liu, where they referred to him as "Lord" or "Master".”
From Middle French servitude, from Latin servitūdō, from Latin servus (“slave”). Equivalent to serve + -itude.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.