enslave

E1N1S1L1A1V4E1
/ɪnˈsleɪv/

verb

To make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall.

“The migrants will be enslaved once they're no longer useful to the oligarchs; make no mistake about that.”

UncommonScrabble 10

Meanings

verbenslave (third-person singular simple present enslaves, present participle enslaving, simple past and past participle enslaved)

present singular third person enslaves · participle present enslaving · participle past enslaved · past enslaved · alternative inslave

  1. transitiveTo make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall.

    The migrants will be enslaved once they're no longer useful to the oligarchs; make no mistake about that.

    3 more examples

    He and his polite friends would dress themselves out with as much care in order to go and dine at each other’s rooms, as other folks would who were going to enslave a mistress.

    1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 19, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC

    Selling them whiskey and taking their gold. Enslaving the young and destroying the old.

    1982, Iron Maiden, “Run to the Hills”

    The Vice-Premier described the Republic of China as not only an obstacle to Communist aggression, but an alternative to communism. He went on to say that if the Chinese Communists were permitted to enslave the Chinese people on the mainland in perpetuity, there could be no peace or security in Asia—or, for that matter, in the rest of the world—for a long, long time.

    1983, James C. H. Shen, “Signs of Change”, in Robert Myers, editor, The U.S. & Free China: How the U.S. Sold Out Its Ally, Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books Ltd., →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 52–53

    Synonyms: beslave, bethrall, enslaven, enthrall

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Italic*en
  3. Proto-Italic*en-
  4. Latinin-
  5. Old Frenchen-
  6. Middle Englishen-
  7. Englishen-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*ḱlewH-der.?
  9. Proto-Slavic*slov-
  10. Proto-Slavic*Slov-?
  11. Proto-Slavic*slověninъ
  12. Ancient GreekΣκλαβηνός (Sklabēnós)
  13. Medieval GreekΣκλᾰ́βος (Sklắbos)
  14. Late LatinSclavus
  15. Medieval Latinsclavus
  16. Old Frenchesclave
  17. Middle Englishsclave
  18. Englishslave
  19. Englishenslave

From en- + slave.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek δουλόω, ἀνδραποδίζω
  • δουλόω (doulóō)to make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • ἀνδραποδίζω (andrapodízō)to make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Arabic اِسْتَعْبَدَ, اِسْتَرَقَّ
  • اِسْتَعْبَدَ (istaʕbada)to make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • اِسْتَرَقَّ (istaraqqa)to make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Bulgarian поро́бвам, поро́бя
  • поро́бвам (poróbvam)to make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • поро́бя (poróbja)to make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Catalan esclavitzar
  • esclavitzarto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Chinese Mandarin 奴役
  • 奴役 (núyì)to make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Czech zotročovat, zotročit
  • zotročovatto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • zotročitto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Danish gøre til slave, slavebinde
  • gøre til slaveto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • slavebindeto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Dutch knechten
  • knechtento make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Esperanto sklavigi
  • sklavigito make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Estonian orjastama
  • orjastamato make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Finnish orjuuttaa
  • orjuuttaato make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
French réduire en esclavage, esclavager
  • réduire en esclavageto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • esclavagerto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • asservirto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
German versklaven
  • versklavento make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Greek υποδουλώνω
  • υποδουλώνω (ypodoulóno)to make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Hungarian rabszolgává tesz
  • rabszolgává teszto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Irish daor
  • daorto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Italian asservire
  • asservireto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Japanese 奴隷にする
  • 奴隷にする (dorei ni suru)to make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Korean 노예로 만들다
  • 노예로 만들다 (noye-ro mandeulda)to make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Latin servum faciō
  • servum faciōto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Māori whakamōkai, whakataurekareka
  • whakamōkaito make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • whakataurekarekato make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • whakaponongato make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Polish zniewalać, zniewolić
  • zniewalaćto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • zniewolićto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Portuguese escravizar
  • escravizarto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Romanian aservi, robi
  • aservito make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • robito make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • înrobito make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Russian порабоща́ть, поработи́ть
  • порабоща́ть (poraboščátʹ)to make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • поработи́ть (porabotítʹ)to make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Scottish Gaelic daor
  • daorto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Slovak zotročovať, zotročiť
  • zotročovaťto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • zotročiťto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Spanish esclavizar
  • esclavizarto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Swedish förslava
  • förslavato make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Turkish köleleştirmek
  • köleleştirmekto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Ukrainian понево́лювати, понево́лити
  • понево́лювати (ponevóljuvaty)to make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
  • понево́лити (ponevólyty)to make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall
Vietnamese nô dịch
  • nô dịchto make subservient; to strip one of freedom; enthrall

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with enslave

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

enslave. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enslave

MLA

“enslave.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enslave. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “enslave,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enslave.

Source: enslave on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.