travail
part of speech
noun (travail, travails); verb (travail, travails, travailed, travailing — old)
meaning for a pupil
1) (formal, old) Travail is very hard, tiring work or effort. tree →
2) Travails (plural) are difficulties and troubles someone goes through: "the travails of moving house". tree →
3) (old, Bible) Travail can mean the pain and effort of giving birth: "a woman in travail". tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: In the Torah it is used for Rachel's and Tamar's labour in childbirth, and for the hardships Israel suffered, which Moses lists to the king of Edom. In the primary lessons: It appears in formal writing, old books and the King James Bible, and sometimes in news or humour about troubles ("the travails of the England team"). In French, "travail" is the ordinary word for "work", which is a false-friend trap. Phrases: "the travails of", "years of travail", "in travail" (old, giving birth).
examples
- And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb. (Torah GEN.38.27, JPS 1917) tree →
- And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was still some way to come to Ephrath; and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. (Torah GEN.35.16, JPS 1917) tree →
- And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom: 'Thus saith thy brother Israel: Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us; (Torah NUM.20.14, JPS 1917) tree →
- See mine affliction and my travail; and forgive all my sins. (Writings PSA.25.18, JPS 1917) tree →
- For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. (Prophets ISA.66.8, JPS 1917) tree →
- He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail. (Writings LAM.3.5, JPS 1917) tree →
- After years of travail, they finished the cathedral. tree →
- The book describes the travails of a family crossing the ocean. tree →
- The team's travails continued with another defeat. tree →
- In the Bible, the woman was in travail before her child was born. tree →
- The farmers travailed in the fields from dawn to dusk. (old) tree →
- We laughed about the travails of our camping trip. tree →
- The travails of the journey made them tired but proud. tree →
note
Formal and old-fashioned. Pronounced "TRAV-ail" (rhymes with "gravel" plus "ale", stress on first syllable, often "truh-VAIL"). False friend: French "travail" just means "work" or "job". Do not confuse with "travel", though both come from the same old word.
In the corpora
- And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.
- Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child.
- For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
- Shall not pangs take hold of thee, as of a woman in travail?
- Behold, he travaileth with iniquity; yea, he conceiveth mischief, and bringeth forth falsehood.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «travail» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.