Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In feudal law, an obligation imposed upon the inhabitants of a district to perform certain services, as the repair of roads, etc., for the sovereign or the feudal lord.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Feudal Law) An obligation to perform certain services, as the repair of roads, for the lord or sovereign.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun unpaid labor (especially on roads) due to a feudal
lord - noun labor, especially on roads,
in lieu of taxes
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun unpaid labor (as for the maintenance of roads) required by a lord of his vassals in lieu of taxes
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word corvee.
Examples
-
Recruits to the cause were extracted from the so-called corvee (the conscripted labour force), which was made up by the fellahin (the peasantry), and though serving in the corvee was an unappealing activity, conscription into the army was even worse.
Latest Articles 2009
-
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference corvee:
-
If you can take your eyes off the handsome lads and their underpants for a sec, I'd like to add that the mandatory corvee demanded of French peasants (mostly to build roads) is considered a major source of discontent leading up to 1789.
-
If you can take your eyes off the handsome lads and their underpants for a sec, I'd like to add that the mandatory corvee demanded of French peasants mostly to build roads is considered a major source of discontent leading up to 1789.
-
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference corvee:
-
The man's one living son, traveling to market, had fallen foul of a Roman patrol and had been impressed into a corvee for road work.
-
Je ne l'ai malheureusement regardé qu'aujourd'hui midi puisqu'hier j'étais de corvee de papiers peint, non sans mal ...
pinku-tk Diary Entry pinku-tk 2006
-
The canal was indeed built by what amounted to slavery, the forced labour (corvee) of the Egyptian peasants being enforced by the rawhide whip of the overseers (courbash).
Flashman on the March Fraser, George MacDonald, 1925- 2005
-
Ben quoi on fait c'qu'on peut dans la vie je suis de corvee de paquet obligatoirement dans l'tas ya les miens de cadeau!!
pinku-tk Diary Entry pinku-tk 2005
-
Now the US wants to establish corvee labor in a society where they have no ability to protect the workers.
THE NEWS BLOG 2004
qms commented on the word corvee
Your teen will account you a jerk
If you should oblige him to work.
He will resent sorely
His domestic corvee.
It's deep in his nature to shirk.
September 2, 2017
bilby commented on the word corvee
September 3, 2017
qms commented on the word corvee
The audio buttons on Word entry pages have never worked on my iPad, although they do sometimes work on my pc. I should have checked the OED, which includes the accent aigu. I see now that Wordnik does have an entry for corvée as well. Picky, picky. I wonder what the word sounds like in strine?
Your teen will account you a jerk
If you should oblige him to work.
He'll face with dismay
His domestic corvee.
It's deep in his nature to shirk.
September 4, 2017
bilby commented on the word corvee
Stick any word far enough up your nose and it'll sound like strine.
September 4, 2017