Adjacent Words

Tribulation definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TRIBULA'TION, n. [L. tribulo, to thrash, to beat.] Severe affliction; distresses of life; vexations. In Scripture, it often denotes the troubles and distresses which proceed from persecution.
When tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, he is offended. Matthew 13.
In the world ye shall have tribulation. John 16.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an annoying or frustrating or catastrophic event; "his mother-in-law's visits were a great trial for him"; "life is full of tribulations"; "a visitation of the plague" [syn: trial, tribulation, visitation]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English tribulacion, from Anglo-French, from Latin tribulation-, tribulatio, from tribulare to press, oppress, from tribulum drag used in threshing, from terere to rub — more at throw Date: 13th century distress or suffering resulting from oppression or persecution; also a trying experience <the trials and tribulations of starting a new business>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 great affliction or oppression. 2 a cause of this (was a real tribulation to me). Etymology: ME f. OF f. eccl.L tribulatio -onis f. L tribulare press, oppress, f. tribulum sledge for threshing, f. terere trit- rub

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tribulation Trib`u*la"tion, n. [OE. tribulacium, F. tribulation, L. tribulatio, from tribulare to press, afflict, fr. tribulum a thrashing sledge, akin to terere, tritum, to rub. See Trite.] That which occasions distress, trouble, or vexation; severe affliction. When tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. --Matt. xiii. 21. In the world ye shall have tribulation. --John. xvi. 33.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(tribulations) You can refer to the suffering or difficulty that you experience in a particular situation as tribulations. (FORMAL) ...the trials and tribulations of everyday life. N-VAR

Easton's Bible Dictionary

trouble or affiction of any kind (Deut. 4:30; Matt. 13:21; 2 Cor. 7:4). In Rom. 2:9 "tribulation and anguish" are the penal sufferings that shall overtake the wicked. In Matt. 24:21, 29, the word denotes the calamities that were to attend the destruction of Jerusalem.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

trib-u-la'-shun (tsar, tsar, "staid," "narrow," "pent up"; compare Nu 22:26):

1. In the Old Testament:

Closely pressed, as of seals (Job 41:15 (7)); of streams pent up (Isa 59:9 margin); of strength limited (Pr 24:10, "small"). Hence, figuratively, of straitened circumstances; variously rendered "affliction," "tribulation," "distress" (De 4:30; Job 15:24; 30:12; Ps 4:2; 18:7; 32:7; 44:11, etc.; Ps 78:42; 102:3; 106:44; 119:143; Isa 26:16; 30:20; Ho 5:15; Eze 30:16). Frequently, the feminine form (tsarah) is similarly rendered "tribulation" (Jud 10:14 the King James Version; 1Sa 10:19 the King James Version; 1Sa 26:24); in other places "distress," "affliction" (Ge 42:21; Ps 120:1; Pr 11:8; 2Ch 20:9; Isa 63:9; Jer 15:11; Jon 2:2; Na 1:9; Zec 10:11).

2. In the New Testament:

The Greek is thlipsis, a "pressing together" (as of grapes), squeezing or pinching (from verb thlibo); used figuratively for "distress," "tribulation"; Septuagint for tsar and tsarah; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) tribulatio pressura (from tribulum, "a threshing sledge"). The verb form is rendered "suffer tribulation" (1Th 3:4 the King James Version, "suffer affliction" the Revised Version (British and American)); "trouble" (2Th 1:6 the King James Version, "afflict" the Revised Version (British and American); compare 2Co 1:6; 4:8; 7:5; 1Ti 5:10; Heb 11:37). The noun form is rendered in the King James Version variously as "tribulation," "affliction," "persecution," though more uniformly "tribulation" in the Revised Version (British and American). The word is used generally of the hardships which Christ's followers would suffer (Mt 13:21; 24:9,21,29; Mr 4:17; 13:19,24; Joh 16:33; 1Co 7:28); or which they are now passing through (Ro 5:3; 12:12; 2Co 4:17; Php 4:14); or through which they have already come (Ac 11:19; 2Co 2:4; Re 7:14).

Edward Bagby Pollard

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Distress, suffering, trouble, affliction, grief, sorrow, trial, misery, woe, wretchedness, unhappiness, pain, vexation of spirit, adversity.

Moby Thesaurus

adverse circumstances, adversity, affliction, aggravation, annoyance, blight, bummer, calvary, care, cross, crucible, curse, difficulties, difficulty, downer, fiery ordeal, hard knocks, hard life, hard lot, hardcase, hardship, irritation, oppression, ordeal, persecution, plight, predicament, pressure, rigor, sea of troubles, stress, stress of life, trial, trials and tribulations, trouble, troubles, vale of tears, vicissitude, visitation