Travel

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The origin of the word 'travel' SW: A word that has long fascinated me because I am a travel writer is the word ‘travel’ itself. It came originally, I think, from the Latin ‘tripalium’ which was a three-legged instrument invented by Nero to torture people. That eventually became ‘travail’, the French word for work, and then travel. I think this all comes from the OED. When ‘travel’ was first introduced into the English language it meant something that was hard and difficult. It was work, one never travelled for pleasure! One undertook a ‘travail’ and only lately did travel become something associated with pleasure. It is a very interesting progression from torture, to work, to pleasure.