bondage

The story

1. Old English · derived frombonda“householder, husband, head of a family”
2. Middle English · derived frombond“tenant farmer, serf”
3. Medieval Latin · derived frombondagium“an inferior tenure held by a bond or husbandman”
4. Middle English · inherited frombondage“serfdom”
5. English todaybondage

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.

Words from the same roots