Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “trainee” come from?

Trainee derives from English train with the French suffix -é, from Middle French traïne and Latin traho meaning to draw or pull.

trainee (English): Someone who is still in the process of being...

Definitions

  1. Someone who is still in the process of being...

Ancestry of “trainee”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishtrainElongated portion; Connected sequence of people...
2Middle Englishtrain—
3Old Frenchtraina delay, a drawing out
4Old FrenchtraïnerAlternative form of trainer; to pull out, to draw
5Vulgar Latintraginarepresent active infinitive of *traginō
6Latintragēre—
7Latintraheresecond-person singular future passive indicative...
8LatintrahoI drag, pull; I trail; I extract, withdraw
9Proto-Italictraɣō—
10Proto-Indo-Europeantregʰ-to drag, pull?; to run, walk
11Proto-Indo-Europeandʰregʰ-to run

Words derived from “trainee”

  • traineeship
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰregʰ- →