indentured
Meaning
Bound by a formal contract or agreement to work for someone for a specified period, often in exchange for payment of a debt or passage to a new country.
To bind someone by such a contract.
Structure
Usage
He arrived in the colonies as an indentured servant, obligated to work for seven years to repay his voyage.
Many early immigrants indentured themselves to secure passage across the atlantic.
The system of indentured labor was common in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Etymology
The word 'indentured' originates from the medieval practice of creating duplicate agreements on a single piece of parchment. The document was cut apart with a jagged, tooth-like edge, a process called 'indenting' from the latin 'dens' (tooth). Each party held one part, and the authenticity of the contract could be verified by matching the 'teeth'. This literal, physical method of ensuring agreement evolved into the legal term 'indenture' for any formal contract, particularly one binding an apprentice or laborer. The adjective 'indentured' specifically came to describe the state of being bound by such a documented covenant.
Analysis
in- (prefix, latin origin, meaning 'in, into'); dent (root, latin 'dens, dentis', meaning 'tooth'); -ured (suffix, from past participle ending -ed, attached to verb 'indenture').