travail
pronunciation
How to pronounce travail in British English:
UK [ˈtræveɪl]
How to pronounce travail in American English:
US [trəˈvel, ˈtrævˌel]
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- Noun:
- concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of labor to the birth of a child
- use of physical or mental energy; hard work
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- Verb:
- work hard
Word Origin
- travail (n.)
- "labor, toil," mid-13c., from Old French travail "work, labor, toil, suffering or painful effort, trouble; arduous journey" (12c.), from travailler "to toil, labor," originally "to trouble, torture, torment," from Vulgar Latin *tripaliare "to torture," from *tripalium (in Late Latin trepalium) "instrument of torture," probably from Latin tripalis "having three stakes" (from tria "three;" see three + palus "stake;" see pale (n.)), which sounds ominous, but the exact notion is obscure. The verb is recorded from late 13c. in English, from the verb in Old French.
Example
- 1. He hath builded against me , and compassed me with gall and travail .
- 2. Then their hearts and hands trembled , and they were in pain as women in travail .
- 3. But what can a virgin know of the sorrows and travail of mankind ?
- 4. There your mother was in travail with you , there she who bore you was in travail .
- 5. I have seen the travail that god has given the children of men to travail in .