thralldom

English

Alternative forms

• thraldom

Etymology

From Middle English thraldom, þraldom; equivalent to thrall +‎ -dom. Compare Danish trældom, Norwegian trelldom, Swedish träldom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈθɹɔːl.dəm/

Noun

thralldom (countable and uncountable, plural thralldoms)

1. A state of bondage, slavery, or subjugation to another person.

   Synonym: thrall

   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     For ye into like thraldome me did throw,
     And kept from complishing the faith which I did owe.

   • c. 1625–1632 (date written), Iohn Ford [i.e., John Ford], The Broken Heart. A Tragedy. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Hugh Beeston, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, signatures B, verso – B2, recto:

     Beauteous Penthea […] is novv ſo yoak'd / To a moſt barbarous thraldome, miſery, / Affliction, that [s]he ſauors not humanity.

Translations

state of bondage, slavery, or subjugation to another person

• Bulgarian: робство (bg) n (robstvo)
• Danish: trældom c
• French: esclavage (fr) m
• German: Sklaverei (de), Knechtschaft (de)
• Middle English: thraldom
• Norwegian: trelldom m
• Old Norse: þrældómr
• Spanish: servidumbre (es) f, esclavitud (es) f, subyugación f
• Swedish: träldom (sv) c