Travois

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A crude sled made of two long poles lashed together in a V shape and dragged behind a horse or dog, used by Plains peoples to haul goods
2. An open frame sledge formed from two trailing poles joined by crossbars, pulled over the ground by an animal to carry loads
3. A primitive sled consisting of two poles with a load platform between them, drawn by a dog or horse and used for transporting belongings

Etymology: The word began as a Latin torture device. Late Latin "tripālium" named a frame of three stakes used to restrain people, and in Old French it had narrowed to a frame for restraining horses and cattle, a sense it kept in French "travail", the same word that gave English "travel" and "travail" (labour). The modern sense developed far from Europe. Canadian French speakers and the Michif-speaking Métis of the Canadian plains adapted the word as "travawy" for the sled made of two poles dragged behind a horse or dog, with a platform or net slung between them. The spelling "travois" was probably shaped by French "-ois", the ending used for adjectives and inhabitant names such as "Québécois", which is why the word looks like a nationality. Its pronunciation, close to "trav-WAH", preserves that French influence. The verb "travois" was formed later from the noun, and its first recorded use is not dated in the source. The word is a doublet of "travel" and "travail", two English words that came through French from the same Latin root.

Synonyms: sled, sledge, litter, drag