travail
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travail¹
- /tɹəˈveɪl/
- /ˈtɹæˌveɪl/
Rhymes with -eɪl
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English travail, borrowed from Old French travail (“suffering, torment”), deverbal from travailler, from Vulgar Latin *tripāliāre (“to torment”), from Latin tripālium (“torture device”) + -āre (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of travel and travois.
noun travails · travaux · travel · travell
-
Arduous or painful exertion; excessive labor, suffering, hardship.
Great trauail is created to al men, and an heauie yoke vpon the children of Adam, from the day of their comming forth of their mothers wombe, vntil the day of their burying, into the mother of al. […]
Similar: toil, tribulation, ordeal · Opposite: ease, leisure
- Specifically, the labor of childbirth. The lady shrieks and, well-a-near, Does fall in travail with her fear.
- An act of working; labor (US), labour (British).
- The eclipse of a celestial object.
- Obsolete form of travel
- Alternative form of travois (“a kind of sled”)
travail²
- /tɹəˈveɪl/
- /ˈtɹæˌveɪl/
Rhymes with -eɪl
Where it comes from
From Middle English travailen, from Old French travailler, from the noun (see above). Doublet of travel. Displaced native Middle English swinken (“to work”) (from Old English swincan (“to labour, to toil, to work at”)).
verb travails · travailing · travailed · travel · travell
- To toil. [A]ll slothful persons, which will not travail for their livings, do the will of the devil.
- To go through the labor of childbirth. A woman when she traveyleth hath sorowe, be cause her houre is come: but as sone as she is delivered off her chylde she remembreth no moare her anguysshe, for ioye that a man is borne in to the worlde.
Translations
Every language
verb to toil
| Français | peiner |
|---|
verb go through the labor of childbirth
| Français | être en travail, être en couches |
|---|
Talk about this word "travail." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/travail. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. travail. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/travail "travail." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/travail.Cite this
@misc{travail_2026,
title = {travail},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/travail},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
