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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
Lance Eliot, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025
This despite the fact that Russia has invaded and brutalized a neighbor — committing mass murder, mass torture, mass rape, mass kidnapping — in an effort to subjugate the nation.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 18 Feb. 2025
Over the past three years, Russia has embarked on the final act of the collapse of an empire that, in earlier centuries, not only extended its domain across much of Europe and Asia but also subjugated its own population.
—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
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Cite this Entry
“Subjugate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subjugate. Accessed 5 Mar. 2025.
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subjugate
verb
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