Word of the Day

: July 31, 2009

tribulation

noun trib-yuh-LAY-shun

What It Means

: distress or suffering resulting from oppression or persecution; also : a trying experience

tribulation in Context

Over the past year, Sara and Brian have experienced all the trials and tribulations that come with owning one’s first home.

Did You Know?

The writer and Christian scholar Thomas More, in his 1534 work "A dialoge of comforte against tribulation," defined the title word as "euery such thing as troubleth and greueth [grieveth] a man either in bodye or mynde." These days, however, the word "tribulation" is typically used as a plural count noun, paired with its alliterative partner "trial," and relates less to oppression and more to any kind of uphill struggle. "Tribulation" derives via Middle English and Old French from the Latin verb "tribulare" (to oppress or afflict), related to "tribulum," a noun meaning "threshing board."