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

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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

Bavarian soldiers in greasy corvée lumbered among the charred chaos searching for their dead.

From Lorraine A romance by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers

I am glad for the poor lad that the corvée of settling is over; he was dying to get back to his work.

From The Life, Letters and Work of Frederic Leighton Volume II by Mrs. Russell Barrington

They had in 1756 remonstrated with the king against the corvée, declaring that the condition of the peasantry of France was "a thousand times less tolerable than the condition of the slaves in America."

From Life of Adam Smith by John Rae

The days of the corvée were now passed, and harsh impressment no longer compelled the habitant to fight on short rations and without pay.

From Old Quebec The Fortress of New France by Claude Glennon Bryan

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