subjugate

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English subjugaten,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin subiugātus, past participle of subiugō (“to bring under the yoke, subdue”),^[5][2][6][4] formed from sub- (“under”) and iugō (“to yoke”) or directly iugum (“yoke”),^[5][4][3][6] from Proto-Indo-European *yeug- (“to join”),^[6][3] the source of yoke.^[7][4] Hoad, Collins and the Oxford Dictionary of English call the Latin verb Late Latin; the OED treats it as classical.^{[8][9][10][5]} Barnhart thinks the English verb was possibly a back-formation from subjugation, recorded in 1373, influenced by the Latin participle,^[11] and Etymonline allows the same.^[6] The OED compares Anglo-Norman subjugat, recorded before 1411.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective, made subject: about 1429, in the Mirour of Mans Saluacioune.^[5][2] As a verb, to bring a country or people under one's rule: 1447, in Bokenham's lives of saints.^[5][2] Barnhart finds the verb probably before 1425, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In English the verb meant conquest from the first, without the literal yoke of the Latin.^[5][6] About 1518, in Barclay, it extended to bringing anyone under domination or control, then in 1566 to making a person or thing subordinate to another, and in 1595 to taming an animal.^[5] The literal image returned only briefly and rarely, in placing one's neck under a yoke, from 1611 to 1660.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as bringing under dominion by force, quoting Prior.^[12] Middle English also spelled the participle subjungat, apparently by association with Latin subiungō.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1429 – adjective, subjugated, subject to.^[5][2]
• 1447 – verb, to bring a country or people into subjection.^[5][2]
• c. 1518 – to bring under domination or control.^[5]
• 1566 – to make subordinate to another.^[5]
• 1595 – to tame an animal.^[5]
• 1611 – to place one's neck as if under a yoke (obsolete after 1660).^[5]
• 1773 – noun, a person in subjection.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bring a country or people under one's control by force; to conquer: The invaders subjugated the coastal tribes within a decade.^[3][4][5]
2. To make subordinate or subservient to someone or something: She subjugated her own wishes to the needs of the family.^[3][9][4][5]
3. To tame an animal or make it obedient.^[4][5]

Adjective

1. (archaic) Subjugated; subject to another.^[5][13]

Noun

1. (rare) A person in a condition of subjection.^[5]

Word family

• subjugation
• subjugator
• unsubjugated
• subjugable

Related words

• conjugate
• jugate
• yoke
• subjoin

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press