travaglio

labour

noun trah-VAH-lyoh Rare

Origin: From Old French 'travail', toil, ultimately from Late Latin 'tripalium' (instrument of torture).

Also means

suffering

Usage Note

Travaglio is used both in obstetric contexts — le doglie del travaglio (labour pains) — and figuratively for prolonged anguish or political turmoil (il travaglio politico of a party in crisis). The false-friend warning: English 'travail' is the same word, but Italian travaglio is more common and clinical in the childbirth sense.

Examples

"La paziente è in travaglio da tre ore."

Natural Translation

The patient has been in labour for three hours.

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