Other forms: thralls
Thrall is the state of being completely under somebody's power. In thrall to, held in thrall, the thrall of addiction.
It survives almost only in the phrase in thrall to, and it is now used more of habits and ideas than of people. The word meant a slave in Old Norse and Old English, which is why it carries no lightness at all.
1nounthrallThe state of being completely under somebody's power.
“The whole village lived in thrall to the cruel landlord.”
thrall is a state.
Old English thrael comes from Old Norse thraell, a slave or bondsman.
Proto-Indo-European
*tregʰ- — to pull, drag, race, run
Proto-Germanic
*þrahilaz
Old Norse
þræll — slave
Old English
þrǣl — thrall, slave, servant
Middle English
thral
English, today
thrall
Built from
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, Old English þrǣġan (“to run”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA