Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
thrall - 6 dictionary results

thrall

  [thrawl] ,
Use thrall in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person who is in bondage; slave.
2. a person who is morally or mentally enslaved by some power, influence, or the like: He was the thrall of morbid fantasies.
3. slavery; thralldom.
–verb (used with object)
4. Archaic. to put or hold in thralldom; enslave.
–adjective
5. Archaic. subjected to bondage; enslaved.
Origin:
bef. 950; ME; OE thrǣl < ON thrǣll slave
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To thrall
thrall   (thrôl)   
n.  
    1. One, such as a slave or serf, who is held in bondage.
    2. One who is intellectually or morally enslaved.
  2. Servitude; bondage: "a people in thrall to the miracles of commerce" (Lewis H. Lapham).
tr.v.   thralled, thrall·ing, thralls Archaic
To enslave.

[Middle English, from Old English thrǣl, from Old Norse thrǣll.]
thrall'dom, thral'dom n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Thrall

Thrall\, n. [OE. thral, [thorn]ral, Icel. [thorn]r[ae]ll, perhaps through AS. [thorn]r[=ae]l; akin to Sw. tr["a]l, Dan. tr[ae]l, and probably to AS. [thorn]r[ae]gian to run, Goth. [thorn]ragjan, Gr. tre`chein; cf. OHG. dregil, drigil, a servant.]

1. A slave; a bondman. --Chaucer.

Gurth, the born thrall of Cedric. --Sir W. Scott.

2. Slavery; bondage; servitude; thraldom. --Tennyson.

He still in thrall Of all-subdoing sleep. --Chapman.

3. A shelf; a stand for barrels, etc. [Prov. Eng.]

Thrall

Thrall\, a. Of or pertaining to a thrall; in the condition of a thrall; bond; enslaved. [Obs.] --Spenser.

The fiend that would make you thrall and bond. --Chaucer.

Thrall

Thrall\, v. t. To enslave. [Obs. or Poetic] --Spenser.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source

thrall 
O.E. þræl "bondsman, serf, slave," from O.N. þræll "slave, servant," probably from P.Gmc. *thrakhilaz, lit. "runner," from root *threh- "to run" (cf. O.H.G. dregil "servant," prop. "runner;" O.E. þrægan, Goth. þragjan "to run").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see thrall on Thesaurus | Reference