bossale en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /boʊˈsæl/
Etymology
From French bossale, from Spanish bozal (“wild, untamed, raw; born in Africa and recently enslaved in a colony”). Doublet of bozal and bosal.
Meanings
-
(historical) A black African-born enslaved person in a French (or sometimes other European) colony, especially Haiti (as opposed to a slave born in the colony).
In Louisiana, French colonists relied on bossales later than elsewhere as they first imposed the slavery system on Amerindians only. The first slave ship carrying Africans arrived in 1719 […]
2019, Aline Helg, Slave No More: Self-Liberation before Abolitionism in the Americas, UNC Press Books, →ISBN, page 76:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| bossales | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| bossal | alternative | lexicographic |