Dictionary

bondsman en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈbɑndzmən/ (General-American)
• /ˈbɒndzmən/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree Middle English bonden English bond English -s- Proto-Indo-European *mon- Proto-Germanic *mann- Proto-West Germanic *mann Old English mann Middle English man Middle English -man English -man English bondsman From bond + -s- + -man.

Meanings

1. A male slave.
   • The one selection he [Frederick Douglass] “perused and reperused,” he remembered, was “Dialogue Between a Master and a Slave.” The naivete and simplicity of this philosophical exchange between a slaveowner and his bondsman “profoundly affected” the early teenage slave as he read its improbable conclusion. What Douglass at least discovered here was that slavery was something subject to “argument,” even between master and slave; that the slave would convince the master to liberate him might seem unlikely in reality, but this did not tarnish the piece’s fundamental point—the slave won the moral debate. The teenage slave needed all the examples he could find of reason winning over power; he was surrounded and imprisoned by the opposite message. The bondsman even gets the last word, warning the slaveholder that, in spite of his moment of “kindness,” he is still “surrounded by implacable foes” bent on “revenge.” 1997 [1797], David W. Blight, “Editor's Introduction: The Peculiar Dialogue Between Caleb Bingham and Frederick Douglass”, in Caleb Bingham, edited by David W. Blight, The Columbian Orator, Bicentennial Edition (1997 republishing), New York University Press, →ISBN:
   • To Sleep I give my powers away; ⁠My will is bondsman to the dark; […] 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto IV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
   • Near-synonym: nonfreeman
2. A male indentured servant.
3. Someone who signs a bond that states that they have taken responsibility for someone else's obligations.

Forms

Antonyms

freeman · freedman

Coordinates

cosigner · bondswoman

Deriveds

bondsmanship

Hypernyms

person · man

Relateds

bail bondsman · bondage · bonded labour · bound

Synonyms

nonfreeman

Translations (17)

es aval (someone who signs a bond that states that they have taken responsibility for someone else's obligations) · kmr derhûd (someone who signs a bond that states that they have taken responsibility for someone else's obligations) · ro slugă (male indentured servant) · ar كَفِيل (someone who signs a bond that states that they have taken responsibility for someone else's obligations) · pl poręczyciel (someone who signs a bond that states that they have taken responsibility for someone else's obligations) · fa بنده (male slave) · ru поручи́тель (someone who signs a bond that states that they have taken responsibility for someone else's obligations) · pl sługa (male indentured servant) · he עבד (male slave) · nl borg (someone who signs a bond that states that they have taken responsibility for someone else's obligations) · la sponsor (someone who signs a bond that states that they have taken responsibility for someone else's obligations) · es fiador (someone who signs a bond that states that they have taken responsibility for someone else's obligations) · pl niewolnik (male slave) · pt fiador (someone who signs a bond that states that they have taken responsibility for someone else's obligations) · ru слуга́ (male indentured servant) · cy caethwas (male slave) · ru раб (male slave)