different between peonage vs involuntary

English

Etymology

From peon +? -age.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?pi??n?d?/

Noun

peonage (plural peonages)

1. The state of being a peon; the system of paying back debt through servitude and labour; loosely, any system of involuntary servitude.
   • 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic 2011, p. 217:

     But there was work to be done down in the Salinas Valley where César Chávez was organizing the grape pickers and lettuce workers out of their state of un-unionized peonage.

   • 2014, Michael Nava, The City of Palaces, Terrace Books 2014, p. 191:

     "It wasn't just the crowds," Luis said softly. "I saw with my own eyes that Díaz's México is a Potemkin village, Miguel. The México profundo where the poor are so hungry they eat grass and bark. I met Indians whose land is being devoured by Díaz's cronies, entire towns swallowed up, and the people reduced to peonage. I talked to Mexican railroad workers who are paid a fraction of what the American owners pay their own countrymen for the same work."

Related terms

• peonage slavery on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Translations

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “peonage”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

English

Etymology

From in- +? voluntary, from Late Latin involontarius, from in + volontarius.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?n?v?l.?n?t?.?i/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?n?v?l.?n.t?i/
• Hyphenation: in?vol?un?ta?ry

Adjective

involuntary (comparative more involuntary, superlative most involuntary)

1. Without intention; unintentional.
2. Not voluntary or willing; contrary or opposed to explicit will or desire; unwilling.

Synonyms

• (without intention): inadvertent, unintended; see also Thesaurus:unintentional
• (not voluntary): unbewised, unvoluntary; see also Thesaurus:compulsory

Derived terms

• involuntarily
• involuntariness
• involuntary manslaughter

Related terms

• volunteer

Translations

References

• involuntary in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• involuntary in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.