"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.
双语例句
1. He did whatever he could to ease their travail.
他为减轻他们的辛劳做了力所能及的一切。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Mothers know the travail of giving birth to a child.
母亲们了解分娩时的痛苦.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. He gained the medal through his painful travail.
他通过艰辛的努力获得了奖牌.
来自《简明英汉词典》
4. World had to be in travail, that the meanest flower might blow.
社会必须经历阵痛以便让最卑微的花开放.
来自辞典例句
5. The travail of nationhood required above all economic and social progress.
