• n. 分娩的痛苦；艱苦勞動
• vi. 辛勤努力；經受分娩的陣痛

來自古法語 travail,痛苦，煎熬，來自通俗拉丁語 tripaliare,折磨，來自拉丁語 trepalium,刑具， 一種由三根尖木樁組成的折磨工具，來自 tri-,三，詞源同 three,palus,柱子，尖樁，詞源同 impale,pole.

travail (n.)

"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.

1. He did whatever he could to ease their travail.

他為減輕他們的辛勞做了力所能及的一切。

來自柯林斯例句

2. Mothers know the travail of giving birth to a child.

母親們了解分娩時的痛苦.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

3. He gained the medal through his painful travail.

他通過艱辛的努力獲得了獎牌.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

4. World had to be in travail, that the meanest flower might blow.

社會必須經歷陣痛以便讓最卑微的花開放.

來自辭典例句

5. The travail of nationhood required above all economic and social progress.

國家的興旺首先需要經濟方面和社會方向的進步.

來自辭典例句