slave owner

noun

variants or less commonly slaveowner

ˈslāv-ˌō-nər 

plural slave owners also slaveowners

: someone who holds one or more people involuntarily and under threat of violence within a system of chattel slavery : slaveholder

As the fugitive slave and later abolitionist James W. C. Pennington noted, every change in the financial, social, and personal affairs of a slave owner and his or her children could have traumatic consequences for enslaved people.

—Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers

… as the debate about reparations for slavery intensifies, it is important to remember that slaveowners, far more than enslaved people, were always the primary beneficiaries of public largess.

—Tera W. Hunter

Examples of slave owner in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

With French warships threatening invasion, France, in 1825, demanded a ransom of 150 million gold francs, later reduced to 90 million, to compensate white settlers and slave owners for lost profits in what was once France’s richest Caribbean colony. —Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 26 Jan. 2025

DiCaprio starred in the film as the sociopathic slave owner Calvin Candie. —Zack Sharf, Variety, 23 Jan. 2025

Most descendants of slave owners will attempt to justify the actions of their ancestors. —Gary Franks, Boston Herald, 21 June 2024

Since the state had few slave owners, most of that sum had to be raised from taxes on land and buildings. —Joseph Thorndike, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1789, in the meaning defined above