bondman
One legally owned
A bondman is a man held in servitude—a slave or serf.
The term appears mainly in historical and biblical contexts: The bondman shall serve his master.
It implies legal ownership or binding obligation rather than voluntary service.
The female equivalent is bondwoman or bondmaid.
Owned human, forced laborer
- chattelMovable personal property
- enslavedMade someone's property
- shacklesMetal bonds for prisoners
- yokeCrosspiece binding draft animals
subjugation · enslavement · manumission · emancipation · antebellum · peonage · auction · chains
Bonded agricultural laborer
- vassalLand-holding sworn subordinate
- thrallOne held captive
- villeinFeudal tenant farmer
- peasantLow-status agricultural laborer
liege · fealty · homage · overlord · suzerain · fiefdom · manorial · allegiance
One employed to serve
- servitudeCompulsory labor under masters
- drudgeryHard, boring work
- toilStrenuous, prolonged effort
- laborStrenuous effort; also childbirth
bound · unfree · indentured · apprentice · contract · obligation · debt · term
slave
Owned human, forced laborer
yoke · subjugation · enslavement · manumission · emancipation · antebellum · peonage · auction · chains · captivity
serf
Bonded agricultural laborer
peasant · liege · fealty · homage · overlord · suzerain · fiefdom · manorial · allegiance · oath
servant
One employed to serve
labor · bound · unfree · indentured · apprentice · contract · obligation · debt · term · articles
prisoner
Confined criminal detainee
ransom · abductee · seized · taken · held · bondwoman · confined · chained · imprisoned · internee
- unfree laborersslave, chattel slave, bondwoman, serf, thrall
- slaverychattel slavery, enslaved, slave, enslavement, slave traders
bondmanfreeman
Unchained person with rights
freedman · freedwoman · yeoman · citizen · gentleman
bondmanmaster
Authority or controller
slaveholder · enslaver · slaveowner · slaver · slave owner