What does bondwoman mean?
A bondwoman is a woman bound in servitude — a female slave or a woman legally obligated to serve another person. The term pairs directly with 'bondman' (the male equivalent) and stands in opposition to 'freewoman', a contrast made famous by Paul's allegory in the New Testament epistle to the Galatians, where Hagar the bondwoman represents bondage under law and Sarah the freewoman represents freedom under promise. Beyond scripture, the word appears in legal and historical writing describing slavery, serfdom, and systems of indentured servitude, particularly in accounts of the ancient Near East and colonial-era labor. Because of its heavy connotations of coercion and unfreedom, it rarely appears in casual conversation; instead it surfaces in theological commentary, historical scholarship, and literature that seeks an archaic or formal register. Its plural form is bondwomen. For readers encountering older texts, recognizing the term as simply the feminine counterpart of bondservant is usually enough to grasp its meaning.
nounA woman who is bound in servitude or slavery; a female slave. In legal and biblical contexts, it also denotes a woman legally obligated to serve a master until freed or redeemed.
- A woman held in slavery or involuntary servitude.
- A woman legally bound to serve a master, as in biblical law or historical contracts of indenture (often contrasted with a 'freewoman').
"In the ancient Near East, a bondwoman could be freed after seven years of servitude under Mosaic law."
"The contract reduced her to little more than a bondwoman, bound to labor until her debts were paid."
"Paul's allegory in Galatians contrasts Hagar the bondwoman with Sarah the freewoman."
The standard plural follows the same pattern as 'woman/women'; used when referring to multiple women in servitude.
"The estate's records listed dozens of bondwomen among its laborers."
"Bondwoman" appears more than 30 times in the King James Bible — yet today it survives mainly in legal registers and historical texts about slavery and indenture.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bondwoman
Bondwoman is a compound of Middle English 'bond' (meaning bound in servitude, from Old Norse 'bōndi', originally a peasant or husbandman) and 'woman'. It arose on the model of earlier terms like 'bonde' and 'bondman' to denote a woman in a state of unfree servitude, and became firmly established through biblical translation, notably the King James Bible of 1611, which used it to translate Hebrew and Greek terms for a female slave. Cognate forms such as 'bondman' and 'bondsman' share the same root, while 'bind', 'band', and 'bondage' derive ultimately from the same Germanic verb *bindaną meaning 'to tie or bind'. The word has remained stable in meaning since its early modern period consolidation.
Related word forms
How bondwoman is actually used
The word carries strong connotations of oppression and unfreedom, and appears chiefly in religious, legal-historical, and literary contexts rather than everyday speech. It is often used deliberately in theological discussion (e.g., the Hagar–Sarah allegory) where the bondwoman/freewoman contrast is central. The plural is 'bondwomen'.
Easily confused with bondwoman
A bondsman is the male equivalent — a man bound in servitude, or in modern usage, someone who posts bail for a fee.