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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
Ginny Whitelaw, Forbes.com, 1 June 2025
Donald Rumsfeld was particularly determined to subjugate bureaucracy.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 19 Feb. 2025
But a will to shock has never ranked high among Cronenberg’s priorities; the audience’s horror has always felt less like a goal than like a by-product of a rigorously analytical process, in which sensations are subjugated to ideas.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2025
Mina’s father flouted strictures; Sade’s mother subjugated herself to them — that is, until Sade went to jail on a serious felony and compassion for her daughter awakened her long-dormant maternal loyalty.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Subjugate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subjugate. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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subjugate
verb
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