middle passage
middle passage noun: a middle way, especially between two extremes; an intermediate path in space or time.
Noun (1)
middle passage (plural middle passages)
- A middle way, especially between two extremes; an intermediate path in space or time.
- Specifically, the middle part of the sea voyage by which slaves were transported from Africa to America.
- The city once laid claim to the largest fleet of slave ships in the history of the trade as its merchants overtook Bristol and London in dominating the Middle Passage.2007 August 23, Tristram Hunt, “A bold step away from the dead end of guilt and apology”, in The Guardian
- Some slaves refused to eat during the Middle Passage voyage as an act of self-determination and control.2009, Herbert C. Covey, Dwight Eisnach, What the Slaves Ate, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 2
Noun (2) capitalized: Middle Passage
Middle Passage (plural Middle Passages)
- Alternative letter-case form of middle passage.
Forms of middle passage
| plural | middle passages |
|---|---|
| plural | Middle Passages |
Origin of middle passage
middle + passage
Questions about middle passage
- What does middle passage mean?
- Middle passage means a middle way, especially between two extremes; an intermediate path in space or time.
- What part of speech is middle passage?
- Middle passage is a noun.
- What is the plural of middle passage?
- The plural of middle passage is middle passages.
Words near middle passage in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: middle passage (page history and authors); Middle Passage (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.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “middle passage.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/middle_passage. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.