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thrall

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thrall¹

  • /θɹɔːl/ UK
  • /θɹoːl/ Australia, British, New Zealand
  • /θɹɔl/ US
  • /θɹɑl/ US, cot caught merger
  • /θɾɔl/ Scotland
  • /θɾɔːl/ Wales

Where it comes from

From Middle English thral, thralle, threl, threlle, from Old English þrǣl (“thrall, slave, servant”), from Old Norse þræll (“slave”), from Proto-Germanic *þrahilaz, *þragilaz, *þrigilaz (“runner, gofer, servant”), from Proto-Indo-European *tregʰ- (“to pull, drag, race, run”), possibly a variant of *dʰregʰ- (“to run”); related to Gothic 𐌸𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (þragjan), Old English þrǣġan (“to run”).

noun thralls

  1. countable, literary, uncountable Slave; one under the control of another. My father was always a thrall to alcohol.
  2. uncountable The state of being under the control of another person. Today's kids are in thrall to their phones.

    Similar: grasp

  3. countable, uncountable A shelf; a stand for barrels, etc.

adjective more thrall · most thrall

  1. archaic Enthralled; captive. Rather than to live thrall, under the awe Of lordly lokes, wrapped within my cloke […]

thrall²

  • /θɹɔːl/ UK
  • /θɹoːl/ Australia, British, New Zealand
  • /θɹɔl/ US
  • /θɹɑl/ US, cot caught merger
  • /θɾɔl/ Scotland
  • /θɾɔːl/ Wales

Where it comes from

From Middle English thrallen, from the noun above. Compare Old Norse þræla.

verb thralls · thralling · thralled

  1. literary To make a thrall; enslave.

Thrall³

proper noun Thralls

  1. A surname.

Translations

Every language

noun one who is enslaved

Españolesclavo
Portuguêsservo, escravo
Françaisesclave, servant
DeutschLeibeigene
Italianoessere schiavo
Русскийневольник nevolʹnik, раб rab

noun the state of being enslaved

Españolesclavizado
Portuguêsjugo
Françaisemprise, servitude
DeutschLeibeigenschaft
Русскийплен plen, ра́бство rábstvo

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Cite this
MLA

"thrall." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/thrall. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

thrall. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/thrall

Chicago

"thrall." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/thrall.

BibTeX
@misc{thrall_2026,
  title = {thrall},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/thrall},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}