gabelle

American  

[guh-bel] / gəˈbɛl /

noun

1. a tax; excise.

2. French History. a tax on salt, abolished in 1790.

---

gabelle British  

/ ɡæˈbɛl /

noun

1. French history a salt tax levied until 1790

---

Other Word Forms

• gabelled adjective

Etymology

Origin of gabelle

First recorded in 1375–1425; Middle English gabul, gabel (probably confused with gavel ² ), from Middle French, from Italian gabella, from Arabic qabālah “tax, receipt”

Example Sentences

The gabelle, or salt tax, was so high during the reign of Louis XVI that it became a major grievance and eventually helped ignite the French Revolution.

From Time Magazine Archive

Flanders was in a state of ferment at his requisitions for money, and the Franche-Comt� was on the point of making active resistance to the imposition of the gabelle.

From Charles the Bold Last Duke of Burgundy, 1433-1477 by Putnam, Ruth

The Latin form of the word is gabellum, and the French gabelle.

From Notes and Queries, Number 218, December 31, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc by Bell, George

At least, they paid not a sou of taxes, neither aides, nor tenth-penny, nor gabelle.

From Account of a Tour in Normandy, Volume 1 by Turner, Dawson

Merry Montreal! where they eat like rats of Poitou, and drink till they ring the fire-bells, as the Bordelais did to welcome the collectors of the gabelle.

From The Golden Dog by Kirby, William