"T" Word Origins

triplex

Origin

From Latin triplex. Analyzable as tri- + -plex.

triplicate

Latin

From Latin triplicātus, "tripled," from tri- ("three") + plicō ("to fold") — the same pattern as "duplicate."

tripod

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek tripous, "three-footed," via Latin tripus/tripodis — built from tri- ("three") + pod- ("foot").

Tripoli

Polish

Named after the city of Tripoli, one of the historical sources from which the polishing rock was traded.

tripolitan

Origin

Borrowed from Latin Tripolitānus, from Tripolis + -itānus. By surface analysis, Tripolis + -itan.

tripolitania

Origin

From Ancient Greek Τριπολιτάνια (Tripolitánia), from Τριπολίτης (Tripolítēs, “Tripolitan”) + -ία (-ía, “forming abstract nouns”), from Τρίπολις (Trípolis, “Tripoli”) + -της (-tēs, “forming abstract nouns”), reanalyzed as Τρίπολ-ῑ́της (Trípol-ī́tēs) (compare πολίτης (polítēs) and Latin -ī̆tānus), from τρι- (tri-, “three”) + πόλις (pólis, “city”), referring to the three cities Oea, Sabratha and Leptis Magna.

tripper

Origin

From trip + -er.

trippy

Origin

From "trip" (a hallucinogenic drug experience) + the adjective-forming suffix "-y."

triptych

Origin

From Ancient Greek τρίπτυχος (tríptukhos, “consisting of three layers, threefold”), from τρι- (tri-) + πτυχή (ptukhḗ, “a fold”).

tris

Origin

Shortened from the full chemical name tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane.

tristfulness

Origin

From tristful + -ness.

trisula

Origin

From Sanskrit त्रिशूल (triśūla).

trite

Latin

From Latin trītus, "worn out," from terō ("to wear away").

triton

Greek

The physics sense derives from "tritium," from Greek tritos ("third"); the sea-god Triton, son of Poseidon, lends his name to the mollusc and to Neptune's largest moon.

triumph

Ancient Greek

From Latin triumphus, "triumphal procession," ultimately from Ancient Greek thriambos — a doublet of "trump."

triumphal

Latin

From Latin triumphālis, related to triumphus.

triumphant

Latin

From Latin triumphāns, present participle of triumphō ("to celebrate victory").

triune

Origin

PIE word *tréyes Borrowed from New Latin triūnus.

trivet

Origin

PIE word *tréyes From Middle English trevet, from Old English trefet, borrowed from Latin tripēs, tripedis (“tripod”).

trivia

Latin

From Latin trivia, plural of trivium ("place where three roads meet"), which came to mean anything ordinary or commonplace.

trivial

Latin

From Latin triviālis, "commonplace," from trivium ("crossroads") — the same root as "trivia."

Trixie

Origin

Diminutive + -ie.

trod

Middle English

From Middle English trod, the past participle of treden ("to tread").

trog

Origin

A shortened form of "troglodyte."

troglodyte

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin Trōglodytae (“cave-dwelling people”), from Ancient Greek τρωγλοδύτης (trōglodútēs, “one who dwells in holes”), from τρώγλη (trṓglē, “hole”) + δύω (dúō, “to get into”).

troika

Origin

From Russian тро́йка (trójka, “a group of three”).

trojan

Origin

The malware sense comes from "Trojan horse," the deceptive wooden horse from the legend of the fall of Troy.

Trojan horse

Greek

From the Greek legend of the Trojan War, in which Greek soldiers hid inside a large wooden horse to get inside the walls of Troy.

troll

Old Norse

The folklore sense comes from Old Norse trǫll ("giant, demon, sorcerer"); the internet sense grew from an unrelated older meaning of "troll" tied to fishing (trailing a line) and provoking a reaction, and is a doublet of "droll."

troller

Origin

From troll + -er.

trolley

Origin · 1800

From early-19th-century dialect (Suffolk), probably from "troll" ("to trundle, roll") plus the diminutive ending "-ey."

trollop

Middle English

Origin uncertain; likely connected to Middle English trollen ("to roll or stroll about"), possibly influenced by Old Norse trǫll.

trombone

Italian

From Italian trombone, "large trumpet" — tromba ("trumpet") plus the augmentative suffix "-one."

troop

French

From French troupe, ultimately of uncertain origin — a doublet of "troupe" and possibly "thorp" and "dorp."

trooper

Origin

From "troop" + "-er"; the "someone who endures hardship" sense grew out of an older meaning tied to "trouper" (a member of a theatre troupe).

trope

Greek

From Greek "tropos," a turn or way — a turn of phrase, hence a figure of speech, and later a recurring narrative device.

trophy

Ancient Greek

From Latin trophaeum, "monument of victory," from Ancient Greek tropaion, referring to a display marking the rout of an enemy.

trophy wife

English

A compound of trophy, in the sense of a prize put on display, and wife. Trophy comes via French trophée from Greek tropaion, a monument raised at the spot where an enemy was routed.

tropic

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek tropikos, "of the solstice or a turning point," from tropē ("turn").

tropical

Origin

From "tropic" + the adjective suffix "-al."

tropism

Origin

From -tropism (suffix meaning ‘growth towards; movement, turning’) (possibly based on geotropism and heliotropism), from Latin tropus + English -ism (suffix forming nouns of action, process, or result). Tropus is derived from Ancient Greek τρόπος (trópos, “a turn; a manner, style, way; figure of speech, trope; etc.”), from τρέπω (trépō, “to turn; to divert; to rotate or change orientation”) (from Proto-Indo-European *trep- (“to turn”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming nouns of result or abstract nouns of action). Sense 1 (“turning of an organism or part of an organism towards or away from a stimulus”) is modelled after German Tropismus.

trot

Old French

From Old French trotter, from Frankish trottōn, ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to tread" — a doublet of "tread."

troth

Old English

From Old English trēowþ, "truth, faith, fidelity," the same root that gives us "truth" — troth is essentially an older, more formal-sounding twin of that word.

trothless

Origin

From Middle English troutheles, trouthles, trowwþelæse, equivalent to troth + -less. Piecewise doublet of truthless.

trotline

Origin

From trot + line.

Trotsky

Russian

From Russian Троцкий (Trockij), from Polish place name Troki.

trotter

Middle English

From Middle English trottere, equivalent to trot + -er.

troubadour

Origin

From Old Occitan trobar, "to find" or "to compose" — a troubadour was literally someone who "found" or invented songs.