''Tripalium'' or ''trepalium'' (derived from the Latin roots, "''tri- / tres''" and "''pālus''" – literally, "three stakes") a Latin term believed to name a torture instrument consisting of "three stakes" (based on its literal meaning), and commonly thought to be the source for several common modern words, including ''travail'' (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

), ''trabajo'' ( Spanish), ''travaglio'' ( Italian), ''trabalho'' ( Portuguese), ''traballo'' ( Galician), ''treball'' (

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

), ''trivalliu'' ( Logudorese Sardinian), ''travagghiu'' (

Sicilian language Sicilian ( scn, sicilianu, link=no, ; it, siciliano) is a Romance language that is spoken on the island of Sicily and its satellite islands. A variant, ''Calabro-Sicilian'', is spoken in southern Calabria, where it is called Southern Calabro ...

), ''traballu'' (

Campidanese Sardinian Campidanese Sardinian ( sc, sardu campidanesu, it, sardo campidanese) is one of the two written standards of the Sardinian language, which is often considered one of the most, if not the most conservative of all the Romance languages. The orth ...

) and ''

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

'', ' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

). With the exception of the English word and the Italian word, all of these mean "work". This theory has been contested.

Historical background

The original usage of ''tripalium'' is still unclear. Its meaning is mainly inferred from interpretations of "three stakes". The earliest references from the ancient Roman era use the term to describe a wooden structure designed to securely immobilise a large "fiery animal" (horse, oxen, cow) during examination or care. In

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

's ''

In Verrem "In Verrem" ("Against Verres") is a series of speeches made by Cicero in 70 BC, during the corruption and extortion trial of Gaius Verres, the former governor of Sicily. The speeches, which were concurrent with Cicero's election to the aedileship, ...

'' ("Against Verres"), in 70 BCE, and in a later 582 CE text, the ''

Council of Auxerre The Councils of Auxerre were local church councils held in the Ancient Diocese of Auxerre. First Council of Auxerre The first Council of Auxerre was held in 585 (or 578) by St. Annacharius. It formulated forty-five canons, closely related in cont ...

'', ''tripalium'' is used in the context of forbidding clerics to assist torture sessions, and is described as an instrument involving three stakes used to punish only slaves. The subject would be tied to the tripalium and

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

d (i.e., burnt). Historical records concerning the torture in the ancient Roman empire give many famous cases where it was applied and discussions of its legality, but they rarely indicate the means of torture and do not make references to

impalement Impalement, as a method of torture and execution, is the penetration of a human by an object such as a stake, pole, spear, or hook, often by the complete or partial perforation of the torso. It was particularly used in response to "crimes aga ...

. The transition from ''tripalium'' to the French technical word ''travail'' occurred in the

13th century The 13th century was the century which lasted from January 1, 1201 ( MCCI) through December 31, 1300 ( MCCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, which stretched from Eastern Asia to Eastern Eu ...

. ''Travail'' is still used in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

to describe a wooden structure used by farriers for horse care. With the evolution of the French language, ''Tripalium'' could have potentially diverged into the following variants: "traveil"; "traval"; or "traveaul". Furthermore, in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, ''tripalium'' described either a structure consisting of a framework of wooden beams called ''Trabicula'', or an individual beam in the structure.Dictionnaire Français-Latin, Félix Gaffiot Trabicula : petite poutre, poutrelle These trabiculae are the direct source of architecture unique to the city of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, called the Traboules – transverse structures for accessing apartments.

References

{{Reflist Instruments of torture