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Added 9 October 2026

travail

/tɹəˈveɪl/ noun

Latin root: tripālium Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about travail at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Arduous or painful exertion; excessive labor, suffering, hardship. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
Specifically, the labor of childbirth.
An act of working; labor , labour .

verb

To toil.
To go through the labor of childbirth.

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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