Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “trunk” come from?

Trunk comes from Middle English trunke, from Old French tronc, from Latin truncus, from Proto-Indo-European twerḱ-.

trunk (English): "Part of a body."; "A container."; "A channel for...

Definitions

  1. "Part of a body."; "A container."; "A channel for...

Ancestry of “trunk”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishtronkeA large chest or storage container; A container...
2Old Frenchtroncalms box, tree trunk, headless body; trunk
3Latintruncuslopped, docked; maimed, mangled, mutilated; A...
4Proto-Indo-Europeantwerḱ-to carve, cut off, trim

Words derived from “trunk”

  • trunking
  • trunked
  • trunkful
  • trunkless
  • trunklike
  • trunkmaker
  • trunkline
  • trunkfish
  • trunkload
  • multitrunked
  • trunkal
  • nontrunk
  • trunky
  • intrunk
  • trunk-like
  • pseudotrunk
  • trunkback
  • betrunk
  • trunkmaking
  • トランク
  • 트렁크
Every word from Proto-Indo-European twerḱ- →