Captivity

//kæpˈtɪvɪti// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The state of being captive. countable, uncountable

    "held in captivity"

  2. 2
    the state of being a slave wordnet
  3. 3
    A group of people/beings captive. countable, obsolete, uncountable
  4. 4
    the state of being imprisoned wordnet
  5. 5
    The state or period of being imprisoned, confined, or enslaved. countable, uncountable

    "long captivity"

Synonyms

All synonyms
enslavementabsolutismbond servicebondageclose arrestconfinement

Example

More examples

"I think that dolphins should not be kept in captivity."

Etymology

From Middle English captivite, from Latin captīvitās. By surface analysis, captive + -ity. Entered into the English lexicon around the 14th century.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.