corvée

American  

[kawr-vay] / kɔrˈveɪ /

noun

1. unpaid labor for one day, as on the repair of roads, exacted by a feudal lord.

2. an obligation imposed on inhabitants of a district to perform services, as repair of roads, bridges, etc., for little or no remuneration.

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corvée British  

/ ˈkɔːveɪ /

noun

1. European history a day's unpaid labour owed by a feudal vassal to his lord

2. the practice or an instance of forced labour

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Etymology

Origin of corvée

1300–50; Middle English < Middle French < Late Latin corrogāta contribution, collection, noun use of feminine of Latin corrogātus (past participle of corrogāre to collect by asking), equivalent to cor- cor- + rogā ( re ) to ask + -tus past participle suffix

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

corvée

To do so, they resurrected corvée, a 19th-century Haitian law for indentured labor.

From New York Times ● May 20, 2022

That undying class who are contented with the shallow presumptions of à priori reasoning in economic matters, did, it is true, find specious pleas even for the road corvée.

From Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 2 of 3) Turgot by John Morley

See Land: employed by the temples, 211 form of tenancy, 65, 253-256, 196, 197 Metrology, contributions to, 380 Micheau stone, 131 Militia, statute-labor, corvée.

From Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters by C. H. W. (Claude Hermann Walter) Johns

The herdsmen which are the property of Apil-Shamash and Naram-Sin shall not be put in the corvée.

From Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters by C. H. W. (Claude Hermann Walter) Johns

The corvée, vexatious as it was, yet excited less violent heats and inflicted less misery than the abuses of military service.

From Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 2 of 3) Turgot by John Morley