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esclavage

slavery

noun eh-sklah-VAHZH Rare
People & Society Government

Also means

enslavement

Usage Note

Esclavage is the institution or condition of slavery. The related nouns are esclave (m/f, 'slave') and esclavagisme (m, 'the slave-owning system'). France abolished slavery in its colonies definitively in 1848 under the Second Republic, following Victor Schoelcher's campaign — a fact central to French civic memory. The word carries serious historical and moral weight.

Examples

"L'esclavage a été aboli en 1848."

Natural Translation

Slavery was abolished in 1848.

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