subjugate

Definitions

sub- (under) + jug (yoke, Latin iugum) + -ate (to make) = to put under the yoke. Just as oxen are forced beneath the wooden beam, to subjugate a people is to conquer them and force them into submission. Note the jug spelling — the yoke branch of the junc family, not the junct branch.

Why It Means This

The word is pure farming imagery turned political. A yoke (Latin iugum) binds oxen to pull together under a farmer's control; to put a person or nation 'under the yoke' is to strip away their freedom. The brutal image of the plow became the vocabulary of empire — subjugate now means to conquer and crush into obedience.

Common Collocations

• 1.subjugate a people征服一个民族
• 2.subjugate by force以武力压制
• 3.attempt to subjugate企图征服
• 4.be subjugated被征服

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The empire sought to subjugate every tribe along its borders.

• 2.

  They refused to be subjugated by a foreign power.

• 3.

  The regime subjugated its critics through fear and censorship.