Toil Once Meant a Struggle or a Dispute
Toil is exhausting labour. A separate toil is a net used in hunting.
Toil is long exhausting labour. The word came from Anglo-French *toiler*, to struggle or dispute, from Latin *tudiculare*, to crush — its earliest English sense was a fight or quarrel, and only later did it mean hard work. A separate *toil*, usually plural, means a net or snare used in hunting, from Latin *tela*, a web. That is the *toils* in *caught in the toils of the law*, which has nothing to do with labour and everything to do with netting.
- Hard labour. *A life of toil.*
- To work hard. *Toiling in the fields.*
- A hunting net. *Caught in the toils.*
- A struggle (archaic). *Toil.*
- Latin — *tudiculare*, to crush. *The labour.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | toil | Toil. |
| Verb | toil | Toiling. |
| Adjective | toilsome | Toilsome. |
| Plural noun | toils | The toils. |
| Latin | tela | A web. |
- Years of toil.Labour.
- Caught in the toils.Net.
- It once meant a quarrel.History.
The tela family
- Toils — hunting nets, a woven web
- Toilet — from *toilette*, a little cloth
- Subtle — from *sub tela*, finely woven
- Tulle — a fine net fabric, from the French town
- All involve weaving or cloth
The labour is Anglo-French *toiler*, to struggle, from Latin *tudiculare*, to crush. The net is Latin *tela*, a web.
What are the toils in caught in the toils?
Hunting nets. That word comes from Latin tela, a web, and is unrelated to toil meaning labour.
Did toil always mean hard work?
No. Its earliest English sense was a struggle or quarrel, from a verb meaning to crush.