Where does “trench” come from?
Trench comes from Old French trenche, derived from Old French trenchier, from Vulgar Latin trinicare, ultimately from Latin tres meaning three.
trench (English): A long, narrow ditch or hole dug in the ground; A...
Definitions
- A long, narrow ditch or hole dug in the ground; A...
Ancestry of “trench”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | trenche | trench; first-person singular present indicative... |
| 2 | Old French | trenchier | to cut |
| 3 | Vulgar Latin | trinicare | cut into three parts; cut in three parts |
| 4 | Latin | trini | nominative masculine plural of trīnus; genitive... |
| 5 | Latin | tres | three; 3 |
| 6 | English | three | A numerical value after two and before four.... |
| 7 | Middle English | thre | three |
| 8 | Old English | þrī | three |
| 9 | Proto-West Germanic | þrīʀ | three |
| 10 | Proto-Germanic | þrīz | three |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | *tréyes | — |