subjection

/səbˈdʒɛkʃɪn/

/səbˈdʒɛkʃən/

Other forms: subjections

Subjection is when a person, group, or government forces another person — or group of people — to submit or be controlled. A dictator's power lies in his subjection of the people over whom he rules.

Many kinds of control can be called subjection, but it most often describes a political rule or the subjugation of a large group of people. Slavery is one terrible, extreme type of subjection, and a king's conquering of a neighboring kingdom is another type. Subjection comes from the Old French subjection, "submission, inferior condition, or captivity," with a Latin root, subjectionem, a putting under."

Definitions of subjection

1. noun

   the act of conquering
   synonyms: conquering, conquest, subjugation

   examples:

   Norman Conquest

   the invasion and settlement of England by the Normans following the battle of Hastings (1066)

   type of:

   capture, gaining control, seizure

   the act of forcibly dispossessing an owner of property
2. noun

   forced submission to control by others
   synonyms: subjugation

   types:

   repression

   a state of forcible subjugation

   oppression

   the state of being kept down by unjust use of force or authority: "after years of oppression they finally revolted"

   captivity, enslavement

   the state of being a slave

   bondage, slavery, thraldom, thrall, thralldom

   the state of being under the control of another person

   bondage

   the state of being under the control of a force or influence or abstract power

   peonage

   the condition of a peon

   confinement

   the state of being confined

   yoke

   an oppressive power

   bonded labor

   a practice in which employers give high-interest loans to workers whose entire families then labor at low wages to pay off the debt; the practice is illegal in the United States

   servitude

   state of subjection to an owner or master or forced labor imposed as punishment

   serfdom, serfhood, vassalage

   the state of a serf

   constraint, restraint

   the state of being physically constrained

   captivity, immurement, imprisonment, incarceration

   the state of being imprisoned

   custody, detainment, detention, hold

   a state of being confined (usually for a short time)

   solitary, solitary confinement

   confinement of a prisoner in isolation from other prisoners

   type of:

   relationship

   a state involving mutual dealings between people or parties or countries