bondage Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the state of being under the control of a force or influence or abstract power
    • he was in bondage to fear:
    • he sought release from his bondage to Satan
    • a self freed from the bondage of time
  2. noun the state of being under the control of another person
    thrall; thraldom; thralldom; slavery.
  3. noun sexual practice that involves physically restraining (by cords or handcuffs) one of the partners

WordNet

Bond"age noun
Etymology
LL. bondagium. See Bond, a.
Definitions
  1. The state of being bound; condition of being under restraint; restraint of personal liberty by compulsion; involuntary servitude; slavery; captivity.
    The King, when he designed you for my guard, Resolved he would not make my bondage hard. Dryden.
  2. Obligation; tie of duty.
    He must resolve by no means to be . . . brought under the bondage of onserving oaths. South.
  3. (Old Eng. Law) Villenage; tenure of land on condition of doing the meanest services for the owner. Syn. -- Thralldom; bond service; imprisonment.

Webster 1913