corvée

[ kawr-vey ]

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.

corvée

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of corvée¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of corvée¹

C14: from Old French, from Late Latin corrogāta contribution, from Latin corrogāre to collect, from rogāre to ask

Example Sentences

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

From New York Times

Laborers forced into corvée fled their captors and joined the fight.

From New York Times

Anyone who attempted to escape corvée labor was treated like a deserter, and many were shot.

From New York Times

One polity in this nation developed the position of uparaja under Trailokanat and used a corvee system of nai and phrai before it fell to Alaungpaya.

From Slate

He envied those not burdened with “water duty,” or “corvée de l’eau,” as it is referred to here — the trek, and then the lowering of bowls or buckets, by rope, into the deep wells.

From New York Times