I. ˈbändij, -dēj noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin bondagium, from Middle English bonde peasant, serf + Latin -agium -age
1.
a. : the tenure or service of a villein, serf, or slave
b. chiefly Scotland : services due from a tenant farmer to his proprietor or from a cottager to the farmer
2. : the quality or state of being bound:
a. : restraint of personal liberty by compulsion : serfdom , captivity
the bondage of the Hebrews in Egypt
b. : voluntary subjugation (as to some service or duty)
she had gone into bondage among the aristocracy as a governess — Virginia Woolf
c. : servitude or subjugation (as to someone superior or dominating or to some power, motive, or appetite)
with the House of Representatives in bondage to its leaders — Lindsay Rogers
the bondage of specialization
the obvious and painful bondage of shyness — Helen Howe
d. linguistics : the state of being a bound form
II. noun
: sadomasochistic sexual practices involving the physical restraint of one partner