Where does “trenchant” come from?
trenchant (Middle French) comes from Old French trenchant, from Old French trenchier, from Vulgar Latin trinicare, from Latin trini, from Latin tres, from English three, from Middle English thre, from Old English þrī.
trenchant (Middle French): sharp
Ancestry of “trenchant”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | trenchant | sharp; razor sharp; present participle of... |
| 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 | — |
| 9 | Proto-West Germanic | þrīʀ | three |
| 10 | Proto-Germanic | þrīz | three |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | *tréyes | — |