Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “retrenchment” come from?

Retrenchment comes from Middle French retranchement, the noun form of Middle French retranchier, meaning to cut back or reduce.

retrenchment (English): A curtailment or reduction; A defensive work...

Definitions

  1. A curtailment or reduction; A defensive work...

Ancestry of “retrenchment”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishretrenchTo cut down or reduce; To confine; to limit; to...
2EnglishtrenchA long, narrow ditch or hole dug in the ground; A...
3Old Frenchtrenchetrench; first-person singular present indicative...
4Old Frenchtrenchierto cut
5Vulgar Latintrinicarecut into three parts; cut in three parts
6Latintrininominative masculine plural of trīnus; genitive...
7Latintresthree; 3
8EnglishthreeA numerical value after two and before four....
9Middle Englishthrethree
10Old Englishþrī—
11Proto-West Germanicþrīʀthree
12Proto-Germanicþrīzthree
13Proto-Indo-European*tréyes—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes →