CAPTIVITY

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does captivity mean? 

• CAPTIVITY (noun)
  The noun CAPTIVITY has 2 senses:

1. the state of being imprisoned

2. the state of being a slave

  Familiarity information: CAPTIVITY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CAPTIVITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The state of being imprisoned

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

captivity; immurement; imprisonment; incarceration

Context example:

he practiced the immurement of his enemies in the castle dungeon

Hypernyms ("captivity" is a kind of...):

confinement (the state of being confined)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "captivity"):

durance (imprisonment (especially for a long time))

life imprisonment (a sentence of imprisonment until death)

internment (confinement during wartime)

Derivation:

captive (being in captivity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The state of being a slave

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

captivity; enslavement

Context example:

So every bondman in his own hand bears the power to cancel his captivity

Hypernyms ("captivity" is a kind of...):

subjection; subjugation (forced submission to control by others)

Derivation:

captive (being in captivity)

 Context examples 

Originating in the deserts of northern China and Mongolia and kept in captivity since 1919, these hamsters exhibit a whitish/grey/brown coat color with a black stripe down the spine.

(Chinese Hamster, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

This primate has a life span of 10 years in the wild and 16 years in captivity.

(Marmoset, NCI Thesaurus)

The Chinese hamster has a relatively long thin body and tail in comparison to other hamster breeds and is crepuscular year round in captivity.

(Chinese Hamster, NCI Thesaurus)

A medium-sized diurnal primate that is omnivorous, Chlorocebus sabaeus has a life span of 10 years in the wild and 25 years in captivity.

(African Green Monkey, NCI Thesaurus)

The spirit fluttered for a moment on the threshold of its little prison, and, unconscious of captivity, took wing.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Conservationists have collected hundreds of amphibian species threatened by the fungus and are maintaining them in captivity with the hope of re-establishing them in the wild.

(Amphibians can acquire resistance to deadly fungus, NSF)

In captivity, only 10 percent of male chimpanzees live to age 45 and only 10 percent of females to 55.

(New research detects Alzheimer's disease markers in nonhuman primates, National Science Foundation)

On their journey home through the woods Alleyne learnt their wondrous story: how, when Sir Nigel came to his senses, he with his fellow-captive had been hurried to the coast, and conveyed by sea to their captor's castle; how upon the way they had been taken by a Barbary rover, and how they exchanged their light captivity for a seat on a galley bench and hard labor at the pirate's oars; how, in the port at Barbary, Sir Nigel had slain the Moorish captain, and had swum with Aylward to a small coaster which they had taken, and so made their way to England with a rich cargo to reward them for their toils.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Apart from which, said Mrs. Micawber, I will not disguise from you, my dear Master Copperfield, that when that branch of my family which is settled in Plymouth, became aware that Mr. Micawber was accompanied by myself, and by little Wilkins and his sister, and by the twins, they did not receive him with that ardour which he might have expected, being so newly released from captivity.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Originating in the deserts of northern China and Mongolia and kept in captivity since 1919, these hamsters exhibit a whitish/grey/brown coat color with a black stripe down the spine, and have a life span of two to three years.

(Chinese Hamster, NCI Thesaurus)