Английский Этимологический словарь - toil (1)

- "hard work," 13c., "turmoil, contention, dispute," from Anglo-Fr. toil, from toiler "agitate, stir up, entangle," from O.Fr. toeillier "drag about, make dirty," from L. tudiculare "crush with a small hammer," from tudicula "mill for crushing olives, instrument for crushing," from root of tundere "to pound." Sense of "hard work, labor" (1594) is from the verb toilen (13c.) "to drag, struggle," which had acquired a sense of "hard work" by 1376. Replaced O.E. swincan.