middle passage

or Middle Passage

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.

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of middle passage¹

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

What about North American, Caribbean, and European blacks who trace their ancestry to the Middle Passage?

From The Daily Beast

Nevertheless the abominable cruelties to which the slaves were subjected during the middle passage were clearly proved.

From Project Gutenberg

In each story were two rooms, separated by an entry, or middle passage, with which they communicated by opposite doors.

From Project Gutenberg

La Salle followed that of the west, and Dautray that of the east; while Tonty took the middle passage.

From Project Gutenberg

And the mortality of the middle passage, computed by some at five, is now admitted not to have exceeded nine per cent.

From Project Gutenberg

He walked up and down the middle passage like a suffering animal, his gall rising.

From Project Gutenberg