Thrall
adj, name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Slave; one under the control of another. countable, uncountable
"My father was always a thrall to alcohol."
- 2 someone held in bondage wordnet
- 3 The state of being under the control of another person. uncountable
"Today's kids are in thrall to their phones."
- 4 the state of being under the control of another person wordnet
- 5 A shelf; a stand for barrels, etc. countable, uncountable
- 1 To make a thrall; enslave.
- 1 Enthralled; captive. archaic
"Rather than to live thrall, under the awe Of lordly lokes, wrapped within my cloke […]"
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"The populace was in thrall to the dictator's whims."
Etymology
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 *trāgʰ- (“to pull, drag, race, run”); according to ODS probably related to Gothic 𐌸𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (þragjan), Old English þrǣġan (“to run”).
From Middle English thrallen, from the noun above. Compare Old Norse þræla.
Related phrases
More for "thrall"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.