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middle passage

or Middle Passage

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noun History/Historical.
  1. the part of the Atlantic Ocean between the west coast of Africa and the West Indies: the longest part of the journey formerly made by slave ships.
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Origin of middle passage

First recorded in 1780–90
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for middle passage

Historical Examples

  • What a thing of life (and death) to walk the middle-passage; to fly in and out of African bays and creeks!

    Punch - Volume 25 (Jul-Dec 1853)

    Various

British Dictionary definitions for middle passage

middle passage

noun
  1. the middle passage history the journey across the Atlantic Ocean from the W coast of Africa to the Caribbean: the longest part of the journey of the slave ships sailing to the Caribbean or the Americas
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for middle passage

n.

1788, in reference to the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper