travois

/tɹəˈvɔɪ/

Etymology

The noun is derived from Michif travawy (IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /tɹæˈvɔɪ/), from Canadian French travail (“travois”), from French travail, from Middle French travail, from Old French travail (“frame for restraining horses and cattle for medical treatment or shoeing”), from Late Latin tripālium (“torture device consisting of three stakes”), from Latin tripālis (“having, or propped up by, three pales or stakes”) (from tri- (prefix meaning ‘three’) + pālus (“pale, stake”)) + -ium (suffix forming nouns). Doublet of travel and travail. The spelling travois and pronunciations /ˈtɹævwɑ(ː)/, /tɹævˈwɑ/ are probably influenced by French -ois (suffix forming adjectives relating to particular countries, regions, or cities, their associated inhabitant names, and the local languages or dialects). T

travois means A frame, often consisting of two poles tied together at one end to form a V-shaped structure with the vertex attached to a dog, horse, etc., or held by a person and the other ends touching the ground, which was used by indigenous peoples (notably the Plains Aboriginals of North America) to drag loads over land. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.

Why this word is great

TRAVOIS — [Noun] A load-bearing drag-frame of two poles lashed into a V-shape with a platform or netting between them, historically essential for overland transport among the Plains Indigenous peoples. From Michif travawy, from Canadian French travail (“travois”), from French travail (“frame for restraining animals”), from Late Latin tripālium (“torture device of three stakes”), from Latin tri- (“three”) + pālus (“stake, pale”). Unlike a sled, which glides on runners over snow, or a cart, which rolls smoothly on wheels, the travois is a technology of pure friction, a concession to the unyielding earth. It is the long, parallel scars left on prairie sod, the rhythmic groan of hide lashings under strain, and the patient, plodding silhouette against an infinite horizon—a vessel of mobility born from the lexicon of bondage, carrying a world forward by sheer, enduring drag.

noun

A frame, often consisting of two poles tied together at one end to form a V-shaped structure with the vertex attached to a dog, horse, etc., or held by a person and the other ends touching the ground, which was used by indigenous peoples (notably the Plains Aboriginals of North America) to drag loads over land.“On the plains they will have horses dragging travoises, dogs with travoises, women and children loaded with impedimenta, […]”
A similar piece of equipment used to transport something by dragging; especially a stretcher dragged by a horse, mule, etc., used to transport an ill or injured person.
A sled dragged by a horse or ox to transport logs, with one end of each log on the sled and the other end touching the ground.

verb

To transport (someone or something) by means of a travois.“At White Sands, we found drag-marks made by the ends of wooden poles while excavating for fossil footprints. Sometimes these appear as just one trace, while at other times they occur as two parallel, equidistant traces. A pole or poles used in this fashion is called a travois. . . To help interpret these features, we . . . used different combinations of poles to recreate simple, hand-pulled travoi”
To use a travois to transport a load.