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Travail traces back to trepalium, a Late Latin word for an instrument of torture. We don't know exactly what a trepalium looked like, but the word's history gives us an idea. Trepalium comes from the Latin adjective tripalis, which means "having three stakes" (from tri-, meaning "three," and palus, meaning "stake"). Trepalium eventually led to the Anglo-French verb travailler, meaning "to torment" but also, more mildly, "to trouble" and "to journey." The Anglo-French noun travail was borrowed into English in the 13th century, along with another descendant of travailler, travel.
Examples of travail in a Sentence
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 7 Apr. 2025
In the newest twist, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is publicly mulling whether to try to oust Adams from office — or whether to hope the mayor’s travails will sink him in the mayoral primary set for June.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 19 Feb. 2025
The travels and travails of politicized sisterhood Oprah Winfrey’s and Whoopi Goldberg’s appearance together at the Academy Awards, to introduce a tribute to the late music arranger/producer and Hollywood mogul Quincy Jones, was the strangest way to begin Women’s History Month.
—Armond White, National Review, 7 Mar. 2025
While everyone might watch the S&P500 or the travails of bitcoin, it’s all driven by central bank monetary policy, and for the foreseeable future and globally, that is led by the U.S. Federal Reserve and its balance sheet operations.
—Clem Chambers, Forbes, 21 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Travail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/travail. Accessed 7 May. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
travail
noun
ˈtrav-ˌāl
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