tribulation

English

Etymology

From Middle English tribulation, from Old French tribulacion, from Late Latin trībulātiō (“distress, trouble, tribulation, affliction”), from Latin tribulāre (“to press, probably also thresh out grain”), from trībulum (“a sledge consisting of a wooden block studded with sharp pieces of flint or with iron teeth, used for threshing grain”), from terēre (“to rub”); see trite.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌtɹɪbjʊˈleɪ̯ʃən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌtɹɪbjəˈleɪ̯ʃən/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən
• Hyphenation: tri‧bu‧la‧tion

Noun

tribulation (countable and uncountable, plural tribulations)

1. Any adversity; a trying period or event.
   • 1534, Thomas More, chapter VI, in A Dialoge of Comfort against Tribulacion, Made by Syr Thomas More Knyght, and Set Foorth by the Name of an Hūgariē, not before this Time Imprinted. B.L., London: In aedibus Richardi Totteli, published 1553, OCLC 503798044; republished as “It Sufficeth not that a Man Have a Desire to be Comforted by God only by the Taking Away of the Tribulation”, in A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation, Made by the Right Virtuous, Wise and Learned Man, Sir Thomas More, sometime Lord Chancellor of England, which He Wrote in the Town of London, A.D. 1534, and entitled thus: A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation, made by an Hungarian in Latin, and Translated out of Latin into French, and out of French into English now Newly Set Forth with Many Places Restored and Corrected. Now Newly Set Forth, with Many Places Restored and Corrected by Conference of Sundry Copies. (English Catholic Library; 3), London: Charles Dolman, 61, New Bond Street, 1847, OCLC 499142813, page 23:

     What wit have we (poor fools) to wit what will serve us, when the blessed Apostle himself in his sore tribulation, praying thrice unto God to take it away from him, was answered again by God in a manner that he was but a fool in asking that request, but that the help of God's grace in that tribulation to strengthen him was far better for him, than to take that tribulation from him?

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Romans 12:12:

     Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer

   • 1820, [Walter Scott], chapter XIII, in The Abbot. , volume I, Edinburgh: [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, ; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, , →OCLC, page 276:

     And mark me, brother! not in the proudest days of the mitred Abbey, was a Superior ever chosen, whom his office shall so much honour, as he shall be honoured, who now takes it upon him in these days of tribulation.

   • 1847, Herman Melville, chapter XI, in Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers; London, John Murray, OCLC 4988695; republished as “Doctor Long Ghost a Wag—One of His Capers”, in Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas, 6th edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers 329 & 331 Pearl Street, Franklin Square, 1852, OCLC 22323804, page 62:

     Baltimore's tribulations were indeed sore; there was no peace for him day nor night.

   • 1944 June 27, Herbert Hoover, speech in Chicago, Illinois, to the 23rd Republican National Convention; quoted in Linda Carol Harms Case, Bold Beliefs in Camouflage: A–Z Briefings: A Valuable Resource Highlighting an Extraordinary Collection of Prayers, Military Quotations, Scripture Verses, Bible Stories, Hymns, and Testimonies, Relevant to Core Values and Keywords Used by Chaplains, Leaders, Veterans, and Other Members of the American Armed Forces, Victoria, B.C.; Neche, N.D.: FriesenPress, January 2013, ISBN 978-1-77097-632-0, page 203:

     Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die. It is youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war.

   • 2009 September 24, Richard Corliss, “Kristina: A new musical from the ABBA guys”, in Time‎, archived from the original on 8 March 2016:

     Essentially stoic, passive characters, Kristina and the others triumph by surviving — by outliving their plagues and tribulations.

Derived terms

• Cape Tribulation
• trials and tribulations
• tribulate

Translations

Further reading

• “tribulation”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “tribulation”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin tribulātiō, from Latin tribulō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʁi.by.la.sjɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

tribulation f (plural tribulations)

1. tribulation

   Synonym: mésaventure

Further reading

• “tribulation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.