Word.ws English Dictionary

bozal

/boʊˈzæl/

bozal noun: a (black) slave recently brought to a (European, especially Spanish) colony from Africa. Also the alternative form of bosal.

Noun (1)

bozal (plural bozals)

  1. (historical) A (black) slave recently brought to a (European, especially Spanish) colony from Africa.

Adjective (1)

bozal (not comparable)

  1. (historical) Of a slave, recently brought to a colony from Africa.

Adjective (2) capitalized: Bozal

Bozal (not comparable)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of bozal.
    • I was assured that the labour of eight emancipated Africans was considered equal to that of twelve apprenticed labourers born in the colony; and on the same principle, a Bozal African, fresh from one of the market places of the Havana, commands an average price of twenty-four ounces of gold when...1840, David Turnbull, Travles in the West: Cuba; with Notices of Porto Rico, and the Slave Trade, pages 62–63
    • They were libelled for salvage by the officers who took them up, and libelled as property by the miscreants called Spanish gentlemen who had bought them in Cuba, knowing them to be Bozal negroes fresh from Africa.1843, J. F. Johnson, Proceedings of the General Anti-Slavery Convention, page 122

Noun (2) capitalized: Bozal

Bozal (plural Bozals)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of bozal.
    • it was occasioned by the loss of so many valuable Bozals, or newly imported Africans1853, R. R. Madden, The Island of Cuba: Its Resources, Progress, and Prospects, page 234

Also used as

bozal is also the alternative form of bosal.

Synonyms of bozal

Forms of bozal

pluralbozals
pluralBozals

Origin of bozal

From Spanish bozal (“recently-imported slave; noseband”). Doublet of bossale and bosal.

Words that rhyme with bozal

11 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about bozal

What does bozal mean?
Bozal means a (black) slave recently brought to a (European, especially Spanish) colony from Africa.
What part of speech is bozal?
Bozal can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce bozal?
Bozal is pronounced /boʊˈzæl/.
What is the plural of bozal?
The plural of bozal is bozals.

Words near bozal in the dictionary

  1. Boz Angeles
  2. boza
  3. bozack
  4. bozacks
  5. Bozada
  6. bozal
  7. bozals
  8. Bozarth
  9. Bozarths
  10. bozas
  11. bozbash

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bozal (page history and authors); Bozal (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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