Etymologists are pretty certain that travail comes from trepalium, the Late Latin name of an instrument of torture. We don't know exactly what a trepalium looked like, but the word's history gives us an idea. Trepalium is derived from the Latin tripalis, which means "having three stakes" (from tri-, meaning "three," and palus, meaning "stake"). From trepalium sprang the Anglo-French verb travailler, which originally meant "to torment" but eventually acquired the milder senses "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.
Noun
They finally succeeded after many months of travail.
no greater travail than that of parents who have suffered the death of a child Verb
Labor Day is the day on which we recognize those men and women who daily travail with little appreciation or compensation.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
But the deadly events on the Patapsco River in the dark of night have shined a light on the travails of the global shipping industry, including a long-standing problem with dirty fuel.—Praveena Somasundaram, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024 With their comic Minor Threats, actor and comedian Patton Oswalt and TV writer Jordan Blum found unexpected success with their title focused on the travails of underappreciated and overlooked D-list villains.—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Mar. 2024 On So Medieval, one-liner maestro Arthur Nolan and the shambolic band rip through silly, catchy, sometimes absurd anthems, reckoning with the travails of a music career while fending off online trolls or blagging free flights by pretending someone died.—Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 19 Mar. 2024 But longtime allies who had stood by him through his earlier travails concluded that this case was different and cut their ties to him.—Tracey Tully, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024 The omnipresence of Trump’s legal travails and his dominance in the Republican presidential primary ensure his shadow over the 2024 election will remain through November, and only increase Rep. Adam B. Schiff ‘s already heady chances of becoming California’s newest U.S. senator.—Benjamin Oreskes, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024 Two decades of war in the Middle East combined with domestic travails have sapped American public support for foreign engagements.—Max Bergmann, Foreign Affairs, 6 Mar. 2024 Thoma Bravo and Vista are frequent rivals in deals but Smith’s travails in 2021 benefited Bravo, a second LP said.—Luisa Beltran, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2024 But amid so many challenges and travails throughout the years, the Warriors now have to lean on their culture of joy, positivity, and camaraderie more than ever.—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 17 Jan. 2024
Verb
Clap back:DeSantis criticizes 'daily drama' of Trump's leadership style, ratcheting up growing tensions Trump travails:Is Donald Trump being arrested?—David Jackson, USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'travail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from travailler to torment, labor, journey, from Vulgar Latin *trepaliare to torture, from Late Latin trepalium instrument of torture, from Latin tripalis having three stakes, from tri- + palus stake — more at pole
Middle English travail "hard labor," from early French travail (same meaning), from travailler (verb) "to torment, labor" — related to travel see Word History at travel
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