▪ I. thrall, n.1 (a.1) Now arch. or Hist.
(θrɔːl)
Forms: α. 1 þrǽl, 2–4 þrēl (pl. þrēles, þrelles), 4 þrell, þrelle, threll. β. 2–3 þral (pl. 3–5 þrāles, þralles), (4 þrale), 4–5 þrall, 4–8 thral, 4– thrall (6 thrawl, thraule, Sc. thraill). γ. 4–5 tharl, 5 tharlle. See also thrill n.2
[OE. þrǽl, a. ON. þrǽll (Da. træl, Sw. träll), perh.:—prehist. ON. *þrāhilar:—OTeut. *þrā̆hilo{supz}, f. OTeut. root þreh- to run. Cf. OHG. dregil, drigil ‘servant’, prop. ‘runner’. Branch II is from thrall v.: cf. M.Da. and Norw. træl drudgery, f. trælle to drudge.]
I. 1. One who is in bondage to a lord or master; a villein, serf, bondman, slave; also, in vaguer use, a servant, subject; transf. one whose liberty is forfeit; a captive, prisoner of war.
| α c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark x. 44 And sua huæ seðe wælle in iuh forðmest wosa bie allra ðræl. 991 Laws of æthelred ii. c. 5 §1 ᵹyf Englisc man Deniscne ðræl ofslea, ᵹylde hine mid punde. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 47 Heo [i.e. Sunday] on eorðe ȝeueð reste to alle eorðe þrelles, wepmen and wifmen of heore þrel weorkes. Ibid. 123 Herien we ure drihten þe..makede us freo of þeowan and of þrelan his ahȝene bern. a 1225 Ancr. R. 130 ‘Hwon ȝe habbeð al wel idon’ he seið,..‘siȝȝeð þæt ȝe beoð unnute þrelles’. 1340 Ayenb. 19 He deþ manhode to þe dyeule and becomþ his þrel. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 274 Nane can tell The halle condicioun off A threll. Ibid. iii. 220 Serwandis and threllis mad he fre. |
| β c 1200 Vices & Virt. 17 Ðe ðe hlauerd betahte his þralle. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 121 To lesen þe þrales of þralshipe. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3010 Þe king..Nom of him sikernesse to be is þral euere mo. 1415 Hoccleve To Sir J. Oldcastle 98 Where is thy knyghtly herte, art thow his thral? 1566 Drant Wail. Hierim. v, Our yonge men, lyke to vylaine thrawles, in drudgerie did grinde. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus i. 4 (1619) 68 A Redeemer, purchasing us being captiues, and thralls to Sathan. 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. i. xi, Outcast of Nature, Man! the wretched thrall Of bitter⁓dropping sweat. 1867 Burton Hist. Scot. (1873) I. xi. 362 The thralls or personal slaves. |
| γ a 1500 Spir. Remedies in Halliwell Nugæ Poet. 65 Lorde, sende it unto the syke tharlle. |
b. fig. One who is in bondage to some power or influence; a slave (to something).
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John viii. 34 Seðe wyrcas synne ðræl is synnes. c 1230 Hali Meid. 5 Þeos as flesches þralles beoð in worldes þeowdom. 1340 Ayenb. 86 Þet hi ne byeþ þrelles ne to gold ne to zeluer ne to hare caroyne. 1571 Golding Calvin on Ps. xxxvi. 5 They willingly yeelde themselves thralls to wickednes. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. vi. 13 Slaues of drinke, and thralles of sleepe. 1821 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Imperfect Sympathies, The veriest thrall to sympathies, apathies, antipathies. |
II. 2. The condition of a thrall; thraldom, bondage, servitude; captivity.
| 13.. Cursor M. 6304 (Fairf.) Quen moises þe folk had lad..out of þe þralle of pharaon. 14.. Chester Pl. i. 129 If that yow in thrall yow bringe. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 44 The nyght in prosperatie, the morne in thraill. 1592 Timme Ten Eng. Lepers A ij b, To bring this noble Realme of England to thraule. 1607 Dekker & Webster Sir T. Wyatt Wks. 1873 III. 111 You free your Countrie from base spanish thrall. 1791 Burns Lament Mary Q. Scots ii, In love and freedom they rejoice, Wi' care nor thrall opprest. 1842 Tennyson Sir Galahad ii, For them I battle till the end, To save from shame and thrall. |
| fig. 1576 Thanksgiving in Liturg. Serv. Q. Eliz. (1847) 559 Thou didst set us free from thrall. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Church-porch xx, When wanton pleasures becken us to thrall. 1800–24 Campbell Jilted Nymph iv, A suitor, Whose heart I have gotten in thrall. 1856 Miss Mulock J. Halifax xii, The Anonymous Friend: who held him in such fascinated thrall. |
† 3. Oppression, trouble, misery, distress. Obs.
| 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 25 It is better..we all seuin suld die..Or this ȝoung man suld suffer ony thrall. 1609 Daniel Civ. Wars viii. xciv, Sit downe, And rest you, after all this passed thrall. c 1796 Miss J. Graham in Chambers Scott. Songs (1829) 15 As yet you've met with little thrall. a 1829 in Roby Trad. Lanc. (1867) II. 26 In my trouble and thrall. |
III. 4. attrib. and Comb., as thrall-folk, thrall-man [ON. þræl-monni], thrall-woman, thrall-work [ON. þrǽl-verk]; thrall-like adj.
| c 1175 Þrel weorkes [see 1 α]. c 1205 Lay. 455 Þat Dardanisc kun..woneð..inne þeowe-dome Þrel-werkes [c 1275 þralle-workes] doð. 1641 Milton Reform. i. 2 Instead of..cheerful boldness..came servile and thrallike fear. 1886 Corbett Fall of Asgard I. 35 She was a wild-looking thrall-girl. Ibid. 86 The thrall-woman came to answer for herself. 1887 Morris Odyss. xi. 190 A-winter he sleeps in the feast-hall whereto the thrall-folk seek. |
B. adj. [attrib. use of the n.]
1. That is a thrall; subject, captive, enslaved, in bondage. a. in the predicate, or following the n. (a) lit.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4074 To bringe hom vnder þe þat þe wolde makie þral. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 51 Hardknoute of Danmark..he was born thralle. c 1430 Lydg. Chichev. & Byc. in Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 132 For we ben thralle and they be free. c 1510 Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) D iij, Sparing the Citizens to him subiect and thrall. 1633 Heywood & Rowley Fort. by Land & Sea iv. Wks. 1874 VI. 418 We now are captives that made others thrall. 1862 Baring-Gould Iceland (1863) 252 Male or female—free or thrall. |
(b) fig.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 370 Hweðer is betere, ine secnesse uorte beon Godes freo child, þen i flesches heale uorte beon þrel under sunne? a 1300 Cursor M. 16940 (Cott.) Thoru a tre..was al mankind mad thrall. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 1 To be subgette and thral vnto the stormes of fortune. 1548 Udall Erasm. Par. Luke vi. 75 To be thrall to no vice. a 1600 Scot. Poems 16th C. (1801) II. 216 Sen word is thrall, and thoght is only free. a 1628 F. Grevil Mustapha iii. i, Those silly natures, apt to louingnesse, Which euer must in others power liue, With doubt become more fond, with wrong more thral. 1845 E. Holmes Mozart 167 It would seem that he was soon thrall to the court taste. |
† b. preceding the n. Obs.
| 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 213 For the delyuerance of hys thrall seruante. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (1531) 208 As thrall synners bounde in captiuite. 1554–9 in Songs & Ball. (1860) 3 Beyng slaves to Sathan, and thrall captyves vyle. |
† 2. Belonging to or characteristic of thraldom; slave-like, slavish, servile. Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ii. xii. (1495) b vj b/2 To put of thrall drede & torne to god. 1528 Roy Rede me (Arb.) 69 Rid vs from antichristis bondes so thrall. 1535 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. App. lxiii. 155 To perceive the thral captivity under the usurped power of the Bishop of Rome. |
▪ II. † thrall, n.2 Obs.
[app. corruption of thraw, throw n.1]
A space of time, a while.
| c 1450 Cov. Myst. xxxv. (1841) 351, I pray ȝow alle Abyde stylle a lytyl thralle. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 522 He..schew to him into that samin thrall, Far moir kyndnes nor ony of thame all. |
▪ III. thrall, thrawl, n.3 dial.
(θrɔːl)
Also 7 throale.
[Origin uncertain: ? an application of thrall n.1]
A stand or frame for barrels, milk-pans, etc.
| 1674 Inv. in New Shaks. Soc. Trans. (1881–3) App. ii. 14† , In the Sellars..Throales, hogsheads..and Tubbs. a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose, Gantril, a stand for a barrel. North. Called also a Thrawl. 1843 Jrnl. Roy. Agric. Soc. IV. ii. 497 A barrel thrawl, or stillion, of cast-iron, furnished with a..lever apparatus for tilting casks without shaking their contents. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede vi, The dairy thralls, I might ha' wrote my name on 'em. 1884 Vaughan's Patent No. 14432 A thrall or stand and tilter for casks. |
▪ IV. thrall, a.1
see thrall n.1
▪ V. † thrall, a.2 Obs. rare.
[Etymology obscure.]
? Strenuous, hard, severe.
| c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 3947 [Generides] was in hert thral; His shelde he made from him to fall. c 1525 in Rel. Ant. II. 118 At Beverley a sudden chaunce did falle, The parish chirch stepille it felle At evynsonge tyme, the chaunce was thralle, Fourscore folke ther was slayn thay telle. |
▪ VI. thrall, v. arch.
(θrɔːl)
[Early ME. þrallen, f. thrall n.1]
trans. To bring into bondage or subjection; to deprive of liberty; to hold in thraldom, enthrall, enslave; to take or hold captive. a. lit.
| c 1205 Lay. 11205 He sloh þæ eorles & þrallede þæ chærles. 13.. Cursor M. 9485 (Cott.) Quils he es thralled in his seruis He ne mai be fre. Ibid. 17209 Þus am i thrald to ma þe fre. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun 3311 The childere of Israel be pharao thralde hoegely. a 1612 Harington Ps. cxxxvii. in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) I. 116 They that thralle us thus by wrong, Amid our sorrowes aske a song. 1872 Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 348 Yet lo! my husband's brother had my son Thrall'd in his castle, and hath starved him dead. |
b. fig.
| ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 882 The God of Love..can wel these lordis thrallen. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 4658 He þat auaricious is, is thrallid To moneie. a 1533 Frith Disput. Purg. Pref. (1829) 91 Fleshly lust..would subdue..and hold us thralled under sin. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Sonn. i. iv, That bright Cherubine which thralls my Thought. a 1651 Calderwood Hist. Kirk (1843) II. 391. 1835 Court Mag. VI. 216/1 What right had he..to thrall her promise, and waste away her young life? |
c. refl. To enslave, bind, or submit oneself.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23787 (Edin.) We thrall vs til vr ful fa In prisun for to life in wa. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2959 They wolden nat hem to þo lawes thralle. |
Hence ˈthralling ppl. a. rare, enthralling.
| 1871 J. Hay Pike County Ball. (1880) 88 Wrapped in thralling memories. |