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thrall. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
thrall, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
thrall in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
thrall you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English thral, thralle, threl, threlle, from Old English þrǣl (“thrall, slave, servant”), from Old Norse þræll (“slave”), from Proto-Germanic *þrahilaz, *þragilaz, *þrigilaz (“runner, gofer, servant”), from Proto-Indo-European *trāgʰ- (“to pull, drag, race, run”); according to ODS probably related to Gothic 𐌸𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (þragjan), Old English þrǣġan (“to run”).
Noun
thrall (countable and uncountable, plural thralls)
- One who is enslaved or under mind control.
1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “(please specify the story)”, in The Canterbury Tales, ,
→OCLC; republished in [
William Thynne], editor,
The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, ,
:
[
Richard Grafton for]
Iohn Reynes ,
1542,
→OCLC:
1915, Jack London, The Star Rover:And there were household slaves in golden collars that burned of a plenty there with her, and nine female thralls, and eight male slaves of the Angles that were of gentle birth and battle-captured.
- (uncountable) The state of being under the control of another person.
in thrall to
1889, Jerome K. Jerome, chapter 12, in Three Men in a Boat :[Y]our friend, John Edward, is at the other end of the room with his whole soul held in thrall by photographs of other people's relatives.
1911, Saki, The Easter Egg:In her brain she was dimly conscious of balancing, or striving to balance, the abject shame which had him now in thrall against the one compelling act of courage which had flung him grandly and madly on to the point of danger.
2017 March 27, “The Observer view on triggering article 50”, in The Observer:A more enlightened Conservative prime minister, better attuned to the “one nation” tradition of the party of Disraeli and Macmillan, less in thrall to Little Englanders, and less intimidated by the peculiarly vicious and Manichaean worldview of the Daily Mail, would have taken a more consensual approach.
2022 November 16, Paul Salveson, “Labour and transport: the important role of the regions”, in RAIL, number 970, page 31:Labour needs to engage positively with the unions on wider policy issues, but not be in thrall with them.
- A shelf; a stand for barrels, etc.
Translations
one who is enslaved
- Bulgarian: роб (bg) m (rob)
- Catalan: esclau (ca) m
- Danish: træl (da) c
- Dutch: slaaf (nl), lijfeigene (nl)
- French: esclave (fr), servant (fr)
- German: Leibeigene
- Hungarian: rab (hu), szolga (hu), rabszolga (hu)
- Italian: essere schiavo
- Macedonian: пленик m (plenik), роб m (rob)
- Manx: sleab m
- Occitan: esclau (oc) m, esclava f, sèrv (oc) m, sèrva (oc) f
- Portuguese: servo (pt), escravo (pt)
- Russian: невольник (ru) m (nevolʹnik), раб (ru) m (rab)
- Spanish: esclavo (es) m
- Swedish: träl (sv) c
- Welsh: caethwas (cy) m, caethferch f
|
the state of being enslaved
Adjective
thrall (comparative more thrall, superlative most thrall)
- (archaic) Enthralled; captive.
1536, Thomas Wyatt, Satire I:Rather than to live thrall, under the awe
Of lordly lokes, wrapped within my cloke […]
Etymology 2
From Middle English thrallen, from the noun above. Compare Old Norse þræla.
Verb
thrall (third-person singular simple present thralls, present participle thralling, simple past and past participle thralled)
- To make a thrall; enslave.
Derived terms
References
Middle English
Etymology 1
Noun
thrall
- Alternative form of thral
Adjective
thrall
- Alternative form of thral
Etymology 2
Verb
thrall
- Alternative form of thrallen