the passage across the Atlantic from W Africa to the West Indies or America that was the route of the former slave trade
middle passage in American English
noun
History
the part of the Atlantic Ocean between the west coast of Africa and the West Indies: the longest part of the journey formerly made by slave ships
Also: Middle Passage
Word origin
[1780–90]This word is first recorded in the period 1780–90. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: classification, dynamics, ego, rosette, seep