English
travois
Travois comes from French travail ‘work’, from Middle French travail ‘suffering’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- ‘to attach, fix’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-1‘to attach, fix’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-slos1reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pākslos1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpālus2‘pale, stake’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtripālis2‘having, or propped up by, three pales or stakes’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEtripālium2‘torture device consisting of three stakes’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400travail2‘frame for restraining horses and cattle for medical treatment or shoeing’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600travail2‘suffering’
- Frenchc. 1600–presenttravail2‘work’
- Canadian Frenchmoderntravail2
- Michifmoderntravawy2
- Englishearliest quotation 1892travois2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin palus
- 2 Wiktionary, English travois
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1892, Julian Ralph, New York: “On the plains they will have horses dragging travoises,…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-Wiktionary, Latin palus‘to attach, fix’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ǵ-slosWiktionary, Latin palusreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pākslosWiktionary, Latin palusreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpālusWiktionary, English travois‘pale, stake’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtripālisWiktionary, English travois‘having, or propped up by, three pales or stakes’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEtripāliumWiktionary, English travois‘torture device consisting of three stakes’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400travailWiktionary, English travois‘frame for restraining horses and cattle for medical treatment or shoeing’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600travailWiktionary, English travois‘suffering’
- Frenchc. 1600–presenttravailWiktionary, English travois‘work’
- Canadian FrenchmoderntravailWiktionary, English travois
- MichifmoderntravawyWiktionary, English travois
- Englishearliest quotation 1892travoisWiktionary, English travois. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1892, Julian Ralph, New York: “On the plains they will have horses dragging travoises,…”
The story
The noun is derived from Michif travawy (IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /tɹæˈvɔɪ/), from Canadian French travail (‘travois’), from French travail, from Middle French travail, from Old French travail (‘frame for restraining horses and cattle for medical treatment or shoeing’), from Late Latin tripālium (‘torture device consisting of three stakes’), from Latin tripālis (‘having, or propped up by, three pales or stakes’) (from tri- (prefix meaning ‘three’) + pālus (‘pale, stake’)) + -ium (suffix forming nouns). The spelling travois and pronunciations /ˈtɹævwɑ(ː)/, /tɹævˈwɑ/ are probably influenced by French -ois (suffix forming adjectives relating to particular countries, regions, or cities, their associated inhabitant names, and the local languages or dialects).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- ‘to attach, fix’
page, propaganda, compact, peasant, pagan, propagate, pala, pectin, impinge, pagination, impactor, 28 more
through Latin pālus ‘pale, stake’
pole, pale, peel, palisade, 21 more
through Old French travail ‘frame for restraining horses and cattle for…’
Today it means
noun A frame, often consisting of two poles tied together at one end to form a V-shaped structure with the vertex attached to a dog, horse, etc., or held by a person and the other ends touching the ground, which was used by indigenous peoples (notably the Plains Aboriginals of North America) to drag loads over land.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “travois”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin palus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- / travois