From Middle English thral, thralle, threl, threlle, from Old English þrǣl (“thrall, slave, servant”), from Old Norse þræll (“slave”), from Proto-Germanic *þrahilaz, *þragilaz, *þrigilaz (“runner, gofer, servant”), from Proto-Indo-European *tregʰ- (“to pull, drag, race, run”), possibly a variant of *dʰregʰ- (“to run”); related to Gothic 𐌸𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (þragjan), Old English þrǣġan (“to run”).
Meanings
(archaic) Enthralled; captive.
Rather than to live thrall, under the awe
Of lordly lokes, wrapped within my cloke […] 1536, Thomas Wyatt, Satire I:
From Middle English thral, thralle, threl, threlle, from Old English þrǣl (“thrall, slave, servant”), from Old Norse þræll (“slave”), from Proto-Germanic *þrahilaz, *þragilaz, *þrigilaz (“runner, gofer, servant”), from Proto-Indo-European *tregʰ- (“to pull, drag, race, run”), possibly a variant of *dʰregʰ- (“to run”); related to Gothic 𐌸𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (þragjan), Old English þrǣġan (“to run”).
Meanings
(countable, literary, qualifier:otherwise archaic, uncountable) Slave; one under the control of another.
My servant, which that is my thrall by right 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “(please specify the story via the 'title' parameter)”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:
Hereat its Marid appeared and said to him, "Adsum! thy thrall between thy hands is come: ask of me whatso thou wantest." 1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:
And there were household slaves in golden collars that burned of a plenty there with her, and nine female thralls, and eight male slaves of the Angles that were of gentle birth and battle-captured. 1915, Jack London, The Star Rover:
My father was always a thrall to alcohol.
(uncountable) The state of being under the control of another person.
In her brain she was dimly conscious of balancing, or striving to balance, the abject shame which had him now in thrall against the one compelling act of courage which had flung him grandly and madly on to the point of danger. 1911, Saki, The Easter Egg:
A more enlightened Conservative prime minister, better attuned to the “one nation” tradition of the party of Disraeli and Macmillan, less in thrall to Little Englanders, and less intimidated by the peculiarly vicious and Manichaean worldview of the Daily Mail, would have taken a more consensual approach. 2017 March 27, “The Observer view on triggering article 50”, in The Observer:
Today's kids are in thrall to their phones.
[Y]our friend, John Edward, is at the other end of the room with his whole soul held in thrall by photographs of other people's relatives. 1889, Jerome K. Jerome, chapter 12, in Three Men in a Boat […] :
Go: release him from the thrall of Hautia. 1864, Herman Melville, Mardi:
Labour needs to engage positively with the unions on wider policy issues, but not be in thrall with them. 2022 November 16, Paul Salveson, “Labour and transport: the important role of the regions”, in RAIL, number 970, page 31:
(countable, uncountable) A shelf; a stand for barrels, etc.
nl lijfeigene (one who is enslaved) · nl slaaf (one who is enslaved) · de Leibeigene (one who is enslaved) · oc esclava (one who is enslaved) · da trældom (the state of being enslaved) · hu rabság (the state of being enslaved) · cy caethwas (one who is enslaved) · hu rabszolgaság (the state of being enslaved) · sv träl (one who is enslaved) · mk ропство (the state of being enslaved) · nn træl (one who is enslaved) · hu szolgaság (the state of being enslaved) · es esclavo (one who is enslaved) · oc jo (the state of being enslaved) · da træl (one who is enslaved) · hu szolga (one who is enslaved) · bg робство (the state of being enslaved) · sl sužnja (one who is enslaved) · fi orjuus (the state of being enslaved) · mk пленик (one who is enslaved) · it essere schiavo (one who is enslaved) · mk пленство (the state of being enslaved) · fr servitude (the state of being enslaved) · mk подјарменост (the state of being enslaved) · pt servo (one who is enslaved) · fr emprise (the state of being enslaved) · fr servant (one who is enslaved) · pt escravo (one who is enslaved) · sv träldom (the state of being enslaved) · de Leibeigenschaft (the state of being enslaved) · mk роб (one who is enslaved) · oc sèrva (one who is enslaved) · hu rabszolga (one who is enslaved) · ca esclau (one who is enslaved) · oc servitud (the state of being enslaved) · ru невольник (one who is enslaved) · cy caethferch (one who is enslaved) · sl suženj (one who is enslaved) · hu rab (one who is enslaved) · fr esclave (one who is enslaved) · bg роб (one who is enslaved) · ru ра́бство (the state of being enslaved) · es esclavizado (the state of being enslaved) · pt jugo (the state of being enslaved) · oc esclau (one who is enslaved) · fi orja (one who is enslaved) · oc sèrv (one who is enslaved) · ru раб (one who is enslaved) · ru плен (the state of being enslaved) · gv sleab (one who is enslaved) · nb trell (one who is enslaved) · cs otroctví (the state of being enslaved) · cs područí (the state of being enslaved) · cs poroba (the state of being enslaved)