Assiento
n.
1714, “contract between the King of Spain and another power” (especially that made at the Peace of Utrecht, 1713, with Great Britain for furnishing African slaves to the Spanish colonies in the Americas), from Spanish asiento, from asentar “to adjust, settle, establish,” literally “to place on a chair,” from a sentar, from Latin sedens, present participle of sedere “to sit” (see sedentary).
Historical Examples
This contract was technically called in those days an assiento.
American Eloquence, Volume III. (of 4) Various
A good ministry would have considered how a renewal of the assiento might have been obtained.
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. I. (of 12) Edmund Burke
To estimate the extent of the smuggling trade directly traceable to the loop-holes which the assiento offered, was impossible.
The History of Cuba, vol. 2 Willis Fletcher Johnson
These two men had been granted the assiento in Spain, that is, the privilege of furnishing the Spanish colonies with Negro slaves.
The Journal of Negro History, Volume 4, 1919 Various
The importation then dwindled, but rose after the assiento to perhaps 30,000.
The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America W. E. B. Du Bois
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