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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.
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Examples of subjugate in a Sentence
Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 23 Jan. 2025
Russia’s long and costly fight to subjugate Ukraine has absorbed most of its military and diplomatic focus.
—Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 23 Jan. 2025
Earlier this month, the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute estimated that if Russia were to prevail in its bid to subjugate Ukraine, the United States would need to bolster its own military by spending an additional $808 billion over five years to safeguard Europe.
—Marc Santora, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2025
Government agents adopted practices of assimilation that sought to subjugate the Agua Caliente.
—Michael Albertus, TIME, 15 Jan. 2025
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“Subjugate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subjugate. Accessed 18 Feb. 2025.
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subjugate
verb
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