corvee means unpaid labor required by a feudal lord. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 75 out of 100.
Why this word is great
CORVEE — [Noun] Unpaid labor exacted by a feudal lord or imposed as a form of taxation, often for public works like roads or dams. From the French corvée, tracing back to Late Latin conrogāta ("contribution, collection"), itself from Latin conrogāre ("to call together by entreaty"). Unlike "serfdom" (which describes the broader condition of feudal bondage) or "tithe" (a tax paid in goods or money), corvée is the body’s own currency, sweat and sinew rendered as tribute. It is the calloused hands of peasants breaking stone under a lord’s indifferent eye, the aching backs bent to dredge irrigation ditches at dawn, the mute protest of a road built by men who will never travel it—a testament that the heaviest taxes are those paid in the coin of human toil.
noun
- Unpaid labor required by a feudal lord.
- Labor, especially for roads or dams, in lieu of taxes.