conscription

noun

con·scrip·tion kən-ˈskrip-shən

Synonyms of conscription next

: compulsory enrollment of persons especially for military service : draft

During the war the armed forces were heavily dependent on conscription.

Did you know?

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

young people who face conscription into the army

Recent Examples on the Web Many point to mandatory conscription as an example. —

Se Eun Gong, NPR, 10 Apr. 2024 Lowering the conscription age, which had been 27, was the most significant measure in a mobilization draft bill that has already seen thousands of amendments in parliament since the start of this year. —

Isabelle Khurshudyan, Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2024 Today was the first day the ruling was in effect, freezing funds for students of conscription age who have not been given military service deferrals. —

NBC News, 2 Apr. 2024 Kyiv must maintain a sizeable army in order to keep fighting off the Kremlin—perhaps with universal conscription, modeled on the Israeli or Swiss variants—complete with a large and modern equipment base supplied by a robust defense industry. —

Branislav L. Slantchev, Foreign Affairs, 1 Apr. 2024 Related article Why ultra-Orthodox conscription could threaten Israel’s coalition The exemption, made in 1948, came when there were few Haredim in Israel – as many were and remain opposed to the state on religious grounds – and so had little practical impact. —

Mick Krever, CNN, 29 Mar. 2024 Military exemptions date to the first days of the Israeli state, when in 1949 David Ben Gurion, the country’s founder, granted exemptions for 400 students of conscription age at religious schools called yeshivas. —

Loveday Morris, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024 With a serious conscription crisis brewing in Ukraine, any strategy that requires fewer troops is a clear winner. —

Emma Ashford, Foreign Affairs, 10 Jan. 2024 The conscription efforts start with the opening of regional offices for various Russian government departments, including health and social services. —

Ivana Kottasová, CNN, 15 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'conscription.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.