> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://goodoil.news/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# The Good Oil Word of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/the-good-oil-word-of-the-day-286/
- Published: 2025-05-18T18:15:32.000Z
- Updated: 2025-05-18T18:15:32.000Z
- Author: David Theobald
- Tags: General, Word of the Day

The word for today is…

travail (noun, verb):

*noun*  
1a: work especially of a painful or laborious nature : toil  
b: a physical or mental exertion or piece of work : task, effort  
c: agony, torment  
2: labour, childbirth

*verb*  
1: to labour hard : toil

Source : [Merriam -Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/travai?ref=goodoil.news)

Etymology : Travail traces back to trepalium, a Late Latin word for an instrument of torture. We don't know exactly what a trepalium looked like, but the word's history gives us an idea. Trepalium comes from the Latin adjective tripalis, which means "having three stakes" (from tri-, meaning "three," and palus, meaning "stake"). Trepalium eventually led to the Anglo-French verb travailler, meaning "to torment" but also, more mildly, "to trouble" and "to journey." The Anglo-French noun travail was borrowed into English in the 13th century, along with another descendant of travailler, travel.

***If you enjoyed this Good Oil word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends and, especially, your children.***