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
- A curtailment or reduction; A defensive work...
Ancestry of “retrenchment”, step by step
retrenchment traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English retrench
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | retrench | To cut down or reduce; To confine; to limit; to... |
| 2 | English | trench | A long, narrow ditch or hole dug in the ground; A... |
| 3 | Old French | trenche | trench; first-person singular present indicative... |
| 4 | Old French | trenchier | to cut |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | trinicare | cut into three parts; cut in three parts |
| 6 | Latin | trini | nominative masculine plural of trīnus; genitive... |
| 7 | Latin | tres | three; 3 |
| 8 | English | three | A numerical value after two and before four.... |
| 9 | Middle English | thre | three |
| 10 | Old English | þrī | three |
| 11 | Proto-West Germanic | þrīʀ | three |
| 12 | Proto-Germanic | þrīz | three |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | *tréyes | — |
via Middle French retranchement
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | retranchement | removal of a portion from a larger whole;... |
| 2 | Middle French | retrancher | — |