# travail

> English word · Noun · IPA /tɹəˈveɪl/ · frequency rank #52,684

## Definitions
1. Arduous or painful exertion; excessive labor, suffering, hardship.
2. Specifically, the labor of childbirth.
3. An act of working; labor (US), labour (British).
4. The eclipse of a celestial object.
5. Obsolete form of travel.
6. Alternative form of travois (“a kind of sled”)

## Etymology
PIE word
 *tréyes
]
From Middle English travail, from Old French travail (“suffering, torment”), deverbal of travailler, from Vulgar Latin *tripāliāre, from Late Latin tripālium, from Latin tripālis (“held up by three stakes”) from Proto-Italic *trēs + *pākslos from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ-. Doublet of travel and travois.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/travail