Boycott

The word “boycott” means to refuse to buy, use, or participate in something as a way to express protest, usually to bring about change by inflicting economic loss or showing moral disapproval. It is most commonly used as a nonviolent method of protest against products, companies, governments or organizations.

History of Boycot

The history of the word comes from Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott, an English land agent in Ireland in the late 19th century. During the Irish Land War in 1880, Irish tenant farmers, encouraged by nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell and the Irish Land League, collectively refused to have any dealings with Boycott because he was enforcing high rents and evictions. This organized ostracism against him became known as a “boycott,” and the term was coined based on his name.

Since then, “boycott” has been widely adopted as a term for collective non-violent resistance used to protest unfair practices or policies.