A person who captures or forces others into slavery, removing their freedom and forcing them to work.
From Old English 'in-' (causative prefix) + 'slave' (from Old Norse 'þræll'). The word emerged in the 16th century as the transatlantic slave trade intensified, combining the prefix meaning 'to cause to be' with 'slave,' a person held in bondage.
The word 'enslaver' is relatively recent in mainstream historical discourse—for centuries, historians often used passive constructions like 'the enslaved' rather than naming the active perpetrators, which linguistics scholars argue subtly obscured human agency and moral responsibility.
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