Travel
/ˈtræv.əl/noun
To go from one place to another, especially over a distance.
Did you know?English travel comes through Old French from a Late Latin word linked to *tripalium*, a three-staked torture device, which is why the word’s earliest history is tangled with hardship and exertion.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*trep-
“to turn, to go around”
Latin
Latin
trepaliare
“to torment, to torture”
Late Latin
Latin
tripalium
“a three-staked instrument of torture”
Old French
Old French
travailler
“to work hard, toil, suffer”
Middle English
English
travelen
“to toil, labor; later, to go on a journey”
Modern English
English
travel
“to go from place to place”