penal servitude

noun

, English Criminal Law.

1. imprisonment together with hard labor.

penal servitude

noun

1. English criminal law (formerly) the imprisonment of an offender and his subjection to hard labour. It was substituted for transportation in 1853 and abolished in 1948 Compare hard labour

Word History and Origins

Origin of penal servitude¹

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

Under a law passed in 1861, any woman who takes “poison” with an intent to cause her own fetus’s miscarriage “shall be guilty of felony” and liable “to be kept in penal servitude for life.”

From New York Times

Mr. Davies, the theater director, feels the same, though he thinks that it might be a price worth paying to transform a symbol of brutal penal servitude into one of culture and opportunity.

From New York Times

One unfortunate husband was sentenced to 20 years of penal servitude because his wife claimed — without witnesses — that he swore and threatened her.

From Washington Post

"And Landor got penal servitude and died in prison."

From Literature

"Landor got penal servitude for life and died on Dartmoor a year later. He was a delicate man."

From Literature