[f. L. subjugāt-, pa. ppl. stem of subjugāre, f. sub- SUB- 1 g + jugum yoke. (Cf. SUBJUGE.)]
1. trans. To bring under the yoke or into subjection; to reduce to the condition of a subject country or people.
1432–50. trans. Higden (Rolls), II. 37. That yle of Wiȝhte, whom Vespasian sende from Claudius did subiugate.
1530. Palsgr., 742/1. I subjugat, I bring under yoke or obeysaunce.
1654. Cokaine, Dianea, IV. 283. Arsinoe won, all is won, and the kingdome subjugated.
1718. Prior, Solomon, II. 184. O fav’rite Virgin, that hast warm’d the Breast, Whose sov’reign Dictates subjugate the East!
1845. Encycl. Metrop., II. 736/1. The special commissions given to the children of Israel to subjugate the land of Canaan.
1853. Newman, Hist. Sk., I. I. ii. 74. They neither subjugated the inhabitants of their new country … nor were subjugated by them.
1865. H. Phillips, Amer. Paper Curr., II. 96. The English … avowed their intention of making America a desert if they could not subjugate it.
absol. 1855. Milman, Lat. Christ., IX. vii. (1864), V. 361. This inauspicious attempt to subjugate rather than win.
2. transf. and fig. To bring into bondage or under complete control; to make subservient or submissive.
1589. [? Nashe], Almond for Parrat, 10. He wil needes haue subiects, before he can subiugate his affections.
1606. G. W[oodcocke], Hist. Ivstine, XXXVI. 114. There was no soueraigne of Macedon able to subiugate their fealty by his dominion.
1611. Beaum. & Fl., Four Plays, Tri. Hon., i. His soul hath subjugated Martius soul.
1667. Boyle, Orig. Formes & Qual. (ed. 2), 298. To evince that the same Ingredient for instance, of Sulphur, is not as much subjugated by the Form of the intire Body, as that of the purgative portion of Rhubarb, by the form of that Drugg.
1791. Boswell, Johnson (1816), I. 394. Nor can history or poetry exhibit more than pleasure triumphing over virtue, or virtue subjugating pleasure.
1841. D’Israeli, Amen. Lit. (1867), 650. Aristotle … had subjugated the minds of generation after generation.
1863. Geo. Eliot, Romola, xxiii. His love and his hatred were of that passionate fervour which subjugates all the rest of the being.
1870. Yeats, Nat. Hist. Comm., 99. The camel, an animal so early subjugated to the use of man.
1884. F. Temple, Relat. Relig. & Sci., iv. (1885), 118. Many species of animals perish as man fills and subjugates the globe.
† 3. To place as if under a yoke. Obs. rare.
1660. F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 190. This Prince hath a high veneration from his people, who subjugate their shoulders for his support [qu’ils le portent sur leurs espaules.]
Hence Subjugated, Subjugating ppl. adjs.
1656. Earl Monm., trans. Boccalini’s Advts. fr. Parnass., I. xxi. (1674), 22. [They] took publick revenge for subjugated liberty. Ibid., II. lxxx. 232. The subjugated people may in time of Peace recover.
1782. Miss Burney, Cecilia, VIII. v. That noble and manly labour, which … disentangles them from such subjugating snares.
1872. Yeats, Growth Comm., 34. The revenue was derived from tribute paid by subjugated races.
