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Since jugus means "yoke" in Latin, subjugate means literally "bring under the yoke". Farmers control oxen by means of a heavy wooden yoke over their shoulders. In ancient Rome, conquered soldiers, stripped of their uniforms, might actually be forced to pass under an ox yoke as a sign of submission to the Roman victors. Even without an actual yoke, what happens to a population that has come under the control of another can be every bit as humiliating. In dozens of countries throughout the world, ethnic minorities are denied basic rights and view themselves as subjugated by their country's government, army, and police.
Examples of subjugate in a Sentence
Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 28 May 2025
The White minority that had subjugated and ruled the Black majority after expropriating their land, herding them into poor Bantustans and profiting from their cheap labor, would yield to democracy and a new constitution that would grant the right to vote to all South Africans.
—Lydia Polgreen, Mercury News, 27 May 2025
Support for the reparations commission is rooted in a sad truth of our state’s history: For too long, the power of government was used to subjugate, disadvantage and disenfranchise Black citizens.
—Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 22 May 2025
And dominant players, such as Google, have also walked away from those pledges or subjugated them to a winner-take-all race to dominate the AI industry.
—Ginny Whitelaw, Forbes.com, 1 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for subjugate
Cite this Entry
“Subjugate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subjugate. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.
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subjugate
verb
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