tripalium

Forms

tripālium n (genitive tripāliī); second declension^[1] The early sources spell it ⟨trepalium⟩;^[2][3][4] also ⟨trebalium⟩.^[2][3]

Etymology

Wiktionary takes it as from Latin tripālis (“having three stakes”) + -ium, a device of three stakes.^[1] Bloch and Wartburg likewise analyse it as ⟨tri-⟩ “three” and pālus¹ (“stake”), a machine made of three stakes,^[5] and Niermeyer and Köbler derive it from that noun.^[3][2] The TLFi, following H. and R. Kahane, takes it instead as probably a calque of Byzantine Greek τριπάσσαλον (tripássalon), a Greek compound of “three” and “peg”;^[6] Wiktionary calls the calque possible.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in a canon of the Council of Auxerre: Non licet presbytero nec diacono ad trepalium ubi rei torquentur stare, “a priest or deacon may not stand at the trepalium, where the accused are tortured.”^[4][5] Köbler dates the council 573–603, the TLFi to 573, and Bloch and Wartburg to 578.^[2][6][5] Köbler also finds it in the Lex Romana Curiensis.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Latin it is only an instrument of torture, and its form is not described: Wiktionary calls the three-stake device tentative.^[3][1] According to the DHLF it also named a frame for shoeing oxen.^[7]

It matters chiefly for its Romance descendants.^[5][6] French travail, a frame in which oxen and horses are held for shoeing, continues it;^[5][6] Bloch and Wartburg explain the ⟨a⟩ of the French word, where ⟨e⟩ would be expected, by the influence of derivatives of Old French tref (“beam”).^[5] From it a Vulgar Latin verb *tripāliō (“to torture with the tripalium”) is reconstructed,^[5][6][7][1] the source of French travailler, at first “to torment, make suffer”, of Old Occitan trebalhar (“to torment”) and of Spanish trabajar.^[5][7] For the verb, Pierre Guiraud proposed a crossing with a Romance *trabiculō, from trabicula (“small beam”), a diminutive of trabs.^[7] English travail and travel come from the Old French noun and verb.^[8]

Timeline

• 573–603 AD – The Council of Auxerre forbids priests and deacons to stand at the trepalium where the accused are tortured.^[2][4][5]
• c. 1100 – Old French has the participle of travailler, “tormented”.^[6]
• mid-13th century – English borrows travail from Old French.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) An instrument of torture, perhaps made of three stakes.^[3][2][1][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) A frame for holding oxen while they are shod.^[7]

Related words

• tripālis
• pālus
• English travail
• English travel

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
7. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com