"T" Word Origins

traumatise

Origin

From French traumatiser.

Trav

Origin

A clipped, informal form of "Travis."

trave

Origin

From Middle English trave, from Middle French trave, from Latin trabem, accusative of trabs (“beam, thing made using beams”).

travel

Middle English

From Middle English travailen, "to labour, journey" — the same root as "travail," reflecting how arduous travel once was.

traveled

Origin

The American English spelling of traveled/travelled.

traveller

Origin

From Middle English traveler, travelour, travailere, travailour (“worker", also "traveller”), equivalent to travel + -er. Compare Anglo-Norman travailur, travailour, Old French travailleor, travelleeur, travelier.

Travers

Anglo-Norman

From Anglo-Norman traverser, "to cross," originally an occupational name for a toll collector at a crossing.

traverse

Latin

From Old French traverser, from Latin trans ("across") plus versus, the past participle of vertere ("to turn").

travesty

French

From French travesti, "disguised" — from Italian travestire, "to dress up" (tra-, "across" + vestire, "to dress"). The same root gives us "vest" and "wear."

Travis

Old French

From an Old French word meaning "to cross over," the same root as "traverse" — originally used for a gatekeeper or toll collector at a bridge crossing.

Travolta

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Travolta.

trawl

Dutch

From Dutch tragelen, "to pull with a towline" — related to "drag" and "dray."

trawler

Origin

From trawl + -er.

tray

Old English

From Old English trēg, "wooden board" — related to "tree" and "trough."

treacherous

Old French

From Old French trecheros, "deceitful" — related to "treachery."

treachersome

Origin

From treacher + -some.

treachery

Old French

From Old French tricherie, "cheating" — the same root as "trick."

treacle

Middle English

From Middle English triacle, ultimately from Greek thēriakē, "antidote" — treacle was once sold as a cure-all before the word narrowed to mean the syrup.

treacly

Origin

From treacle + -ly.

tread

Old English

From Old English tredan, "to step on."

treading

Middle English

From Middle English tredynge, tredyng; equivalent to tread + -ing.

treadle

Origin

From Middle English tredel, from Old English tredel; equivalent to tread + -le.

treadmill

Origin

From "tread" + "mill" — originally a real mill powered by people or animals walking on a wheel.

Treadwell

Origin

Metonymic occupational surname for a fuller, from tread + well.

treadwheel

Origin

From tread + wheel.

treason

Latin

From Old French traïson, ultimately from Latin trādō, "to hand over or betray" — the same root as "tradition" and "betray."

treasure

Old French

From Old French tresor, ultimately from Greek thēsaurós, "treasure house" — the same root gives us "thesaurus."

treasurer

Middle English

From Middle English tresorer, from Old French tresorer, from tresor + -er. Displaced native Old English māþmhierde.

Treasury

Middle English

From Middle English tresorie, from Old French tresorie, from tresor (“treasure”), from Latin thēsaurus (“treasure”), from Ancient Greek θησαυρός (thēsaurós, “treasure house”). Displaced native Old English māþmhūs.

treat

Latin

From Old French traitier, ultimately from Latin tractāre, "to handle or manage" — related to "tract" and "traction."

treatable

Middle English

From Middle English tretable, from treten (“treat”) and Old French traitable, Anglo-Norman tretable; equivalent to treat + -able.

treater

Origin

From treat + -er.

treatise

Old French

From Old French traitis, "treatise, account" — related to "treat" and "treaty."

treatment

Origin

From "treat" + "-ment."

treaty

Latin

From Old French traitié, ultimately from Latin tractāre, "to handle" — the same root as "treat."

treble

Latin

From Old French treble, from Latin triplus — a doublet of "triple."

trebuchet

Origin

From Old French trebuchet, trebuket et al. (modern trébuchet), from trebuchier (“to overthrow, topple”), from tres- + *buchier, from Old French buc (“trunk of the body”), from Old Frankish *būk (“belly, trunk, torso”), from Proto-Germanic *būkaz (“belly, abdomen, trunk”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰōw- (“to blow, swell”). Cognate with Old High German būh (“belly”), Old English būc (“belly, trunk”). More at bouk.

treddle

Origin

From Middle English tridel, tyrdel, from Old English tyrdel (“dropping, small piece of excrement”), diminutive of Old English tord (“piece of excrement, dung”), equivalent to turd + -le.

tree

Old English

From Old English trēow, "tree" — related to "true" and "tar," from a very old Indo-European root for wood.

treehouse

Origin · 1867

From "tree" + "house," first recorded around 1867.

treetop

Origin

From tree + top.

trefoil

Origin

From Middle English trefoil, from Old French trifoil, trefeul, from Latin trifolium, from tri- (“three”) + folium (“leaf”).

treillage

Origin

From French treillage. See trellis.

trek

Dutch

From Afrikaans trek, from Dutch trekken, "to pull or migrate" — originally describing the long ox-wagon migrations of Boer settlers in South Africa.

trellis

Latin

From Old French treille, "arbor," ultimately from Latin trichila, "summer house."

Tremaine

Origin

From Cornish tre (“farmstead; town”) + men (“stone”).

Tremayne

Origin

Variant of Tremaine.

Tremblay

French

Borrowed from French Tremblay.