Would it surprise you to know that the oldest root of the word
"travel" was a Latin word that meant "a kind of rack," as in a rack
used for torture?
Funny. Those folks who first linked the experience of moving
from point A to point B with torture had no knowledge of airline
flights.
The word travel entered the English language in the 14th
century, well before the Wright Brothers built a plane, even before
Da Vinci envisioned planes in his sketches.
It is enlightening to look closely at the words we think we know
well. I looked at a few, but travel has the most entertaining
story.
In the book, "Word Mysteries & Histories," compiled by the
editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries, it says this word
reveals a lot about the hardships of traveling in the Middle Ages,
which is when the word parted company from its twin, travail.
I call them twins because they share an etymology.
That first Latin source word was tripalium (meaning "a kind of
rack") which led to tripaliare (also Latin, meaning "to torture on
the rack").
Webster's, by the way, gives these words as trepalium
("instrument of torture") and trepaliare ("to torture"). No matter.
One version is as scary as the other.
From these sources evolved the Old French word travaillier,
which originally meant "to torture, torment, trouble" and then
meant "to suffer, be troubled, become tired or worn out."
From those origins, it also came to mean "to tire out by a
journey," and then, "to journey."
It was in English that travaillier spawned two words: Travail,
which still refers to suffering, came first in the 13th century and
was followed by its variant, travel, which these days also
sometimes refers to torment, but of a special kind.
I looked at three other words, all also joining the English
language in the 14th century.
The noun "tour" came from the Old French word tourn, understood
to mean a lathe, a circuit or turn.It seems fitting that tour should come from roots that refer to
moving in a circle. Today's tour usually (though not always)
involves returning to the trip's starting point, producing a circle
of sorts.
The noun "stranger" comes from the Middle French word
estrangier, meaning foreign or foreigner. I sought this definition
because travelers to new lands are strangers there.The noun "client" comes from Middle French and Latin words
client or cliens, described as "akin to" the Latin word clinare,
meaning "to lean."This word, too, has suitable connotations, as it suggests the
dependence of one person on another. I'm sure you know when your
customers are truly your clients.