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Meaning & History
Middle English via Old French from ecclesiastical Latin tribulatio(n-), from Latin tribulare ‘press, oppress’, from tribulum ‘threshing board (constructed of sharp points)’, based on terere ‘rub’. Meaning, "a cause of great trouble or suffering." Sometimes given to 'bastard' children. In literature, this was the name of the character Tribulation Wholesome in, "The Alchemist."