conscription
noun
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With its scrip- root, conscription means basically writing someone's name on a list—a list that, unfortunately, a lot of people usually don't want to be on. Conscription has existed at least since ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom (27th century B.C.), though universal conscription has been rare throughout history. Forms of conscription were used by Prussia, Switzerland, Russia, and other European powers in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the U.S., conscription was first applied during the Civil War, by both the North and the South. In the North there were pockets of resistance, and the draft led to riots in several cities. The U.S. abandoned conscription at the end of the war and didn't revive it until World War I.
Examples of conscription in a Sentence
Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2025
In 2024, there were again two waves of conscription, of 150,000 and 133,000 people.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2025
Although Ukraine passed a mobilization law last spring and lowered the age of conscription from 27 to 25 years old, the measures have not had the effect needed to replenish its ranks or replace battlefield losses in its war with Russia.
—Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2025
There was a global increase in the conscription of child soldiers, with Haiti seeing a 70% increase relative to the year before.
—Collin J. Meisel, The Conversation, 13 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for conscription
Cite this Entry
“Conscription.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conscription. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
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