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.
Obligation; tie of duty. He must resolve by no means to be . . . brought under the bondage of onserving oaths. South.
Villenage; tenure of land on condition of doing the meanest services for the owner.
98,828 entries. Headwords are matched first, then definition text.