slave owner

noun

variants or less commonly slaveowner
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
This piano was stolen from the Charles family by their ancestor’s slave owners, the Sutters. Malik William, Essence, 4 Nov. 2024 This reporter never thought that their humble Colombian immigrant grandmother, who sewed garments in New York sweatshops, could have been three and four generations removed from slave owners. Edward Rueda, NBC News, 29 Sep. 2024 He’s being tasked with verbally confronting the oppressors and slave owners and convincing them to let the Jewish people go. Michael Schneider, Variety, 20 Sep. 2024 Last summer, descendants of enslaved Africans and descendants of the slave owner who bankrolled their voyage to America sat down together in a historic meeting to talk about reconciliation, after years of effort to set up a meeting. CBS News, 12 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for slave owner 

Word History

First Known Use

1789, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of slave owner was in 1789

Dictionary Entries Near slave owner

Cite this Entry

“Slave owner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slave%20owner. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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