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bondage

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bondage

  • /ˈbɒn.dɪd͡ʒ/ UK
  • /ˈbɔn.dɪdʒ/ Multicultural London English
  • /ˈbɑn.dɪd͡ʒ/ US

Where it comes from

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.

noun bondages

  1. countable, uncountable The state of being enslaved or the practice of slavery. debt bondage

    Opposite: freedom

  2. broadly, countable, uncountable 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.

    Opposite: freedom

  3. countable, uncountable 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, countable, uncountable Applied to clothing with many buckles, zips, etc., associated with punk and goth subcultures. bondage trousers; bondage jeans; bondage pants

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: thralldom, thraldom, slavery, thrall, enslavement, slave, serfdom, servitude, subjection, subservience, captivity, submissiveness, subjugation, bonded, service, easement

Translations

Every language

noun state of being enslaved or the practice of slavery

中文奴役 núyì, 束縛 /束缚 shùfù
हिन्दीग़ुलामी ġulāmī, बन्दगी bandagī
Portuguêsescravidão
Françaisesclavage, servitude
DeutschSklaverei
Italianoschiavitù
Русскийра́бство rábstvo, нево́ля nevólja

noun state of lacking freedom; constraint

Españolsujeción
Françaisesclavage
DeutschPflicht
Русскийзави́симость zavísimostʹ

noun practice of tying people up for sexual pleasure

Españolbondage
한국어본디지 bondiji
日本語ボンデージ bondēji, 緊縛 kinbaku, 縛り shibari
中文人身依附 rénshēn yīfù, 綁縛 /绑缚 bǎngfù, bǎngfú
Françaisbondage
DeutschBondage
Italianobondage
Русскийбонда́ж bondáž

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MLA

"bondage." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bondage. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bondage. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bondage

Chicago

"bondage." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bondage.

BibTeX
@misc{bondage_2026,
  title = {bondage},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bondage},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}