travail

travail · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*tréyes
2. Proto-Indo-European*tri-
3. Proto-Italic*tri-
4. Latintri-
5. Proto-Indo-European*peh₂ǵ-
6. Proto-Indo-European*peh₂ǵ-slos
7. Proto-Italic*pākslos
8. Latinpālus
9. Latintripālis
10. Medieval Greekτριπάσσαλον (tripássalon)calq.?
11. Latintripālium
12. Vulgar Latin*tripāliāre
13. Old Frenchtravaillerdeverb.
14. Old Frenchtravai
15. Middle Englishtravail
16. English todaytravail

Inherited from Middle English travail, borrowed from Old French travail (“suffering, torment”), deverbal from travailler, from Vulgar Latin *tripāliāre (“to torment”), from Latin tripālium (“torture device”) + -āre (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of travel and travois.

travail · verb²

1. Old French · derived fromtravailler
2. Middle English · inherited fromtravailen
3. English todaytravail

From Middle English travailen, from Old French travailler, from the noun (see above). Doublet of travel. Displaced native Middle English swinken (“to work”) (from Old English swincan (“to labour, to toil, to work at”)).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 13th c. Arduous or painful exertion; excessive labor, suffering, hardship.
• from 13th c. Specifically, the labor of childbirth.
• 14th–18th c. An act of working; labor (US), labour (British).
• 17th c. The eclipse of a celestial object.