travail

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /trəˈveɪl/ UK /ˈtræveɪl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
painful or laborious effort; the pangs of childbirth

After much travail they finally reached the summit.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · painful or laborious... toil labor drudgery exertion struggle hardship ordeal

Opposites

ease rest leisure relaxation

Word family

Related forms travel

Etymology

From Old French travail ('work, labor, toil, suffering'), from Vulgar Latin *tripaliare ('to torture'), from Late Latin trepalium, a three-staked instrument of torture, from Latin tripalis ('having three stakes'), from tres ('three') + palus ('stake').

travail Old French *tripaliare Latin palus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# travail

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /trəˈveɪl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtræveɪl/

## Meanings
1. painful or laborious effort; the pangs of childbirth

## Examples
- After much travail they finally reached the summit.

## Synonyms
- toil
- labor
- drudgery
- exertion
- struggle
- hardship
- ordeal

## Antonyms
- ease
- rest
- leisure
- relaxation

## Related Forms
- travel

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: travail
- Root: *tripaliare
- Root: palus

## Etymology
From Old French travail ('work, labor, toil, suffering'), from Vulgar Latin *tripaliare ('to torture'), from Late Latin trepalium, a three-staked instrument of torture, from Latin tripalis ('having three stakes'), from tres ('three') + palus ('stake').

## AI Etymology
Travail comes from Old French travail ('work, labor, toil, suffering'), from Vulgar Latin *tripaliare ('to torture'), from Late Latin trepalium, a three-staked instrument of torture, from Latin tripalis ('having three stakes'), from tres ('three') + palus ('stake'). The form is best read as a historical transfer or inheritance, with its older language material carrying the main semantic load. As a noun and verb, it carries the sense "painful or laborious effort; the pangs of childbirth", with the older formation still helping explain the modern use. Relevant historical forms include Old French travail, Latin *tripaliare, and Latin palus. Related words include travel.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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