corvée † [< F] Hist. DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
1 n.
in French Canada, the obligation of a tenant to perform a certain amount of manual labor for the seigneur as one of the conditions of holding land, usually involving the repair of roads and bridges or the supplying of building stone and wood.
2 n.
a body of men doing unpaid work on roads and bridges, usually in lieu of paying taxes.