"T" Word Origins

trustee

Origin

Formed from trust plus the suffix -ee, which marks the person on the receiving end of an action (compare "employee").

trusting

Middle English

From Middle English trustyng, trostinge, tristynge, equivalent to trust + -ing.

trustworthy

Origin

From trust + -worthy.

trusty

Middle English

From Middle English trusty, tristy, tresty, equivalent to trust + -y.

truth

Old English

From Old English trēowþ, related to "true" — the two words share the same Germanic root meaning firm or faithful.

truthful

Middle English

From truth + -ful. Piecewise doublet of trothful, from Middle English trouþeful.

try

Old French

From Old French trier, "to sift, choose, or pick out," originally used for sorting grain or ore before it came to mean "attempt" or "test."

tryhard

Origin

From try + hard.

trying

Origin

From try + -ing.

tryout

Origin

Deverbal from try out.

tryst

Old French

From Old French triste, a hunting term for a waiting spot, likely from a North Germanic word related to "trust."

tryzub

Origin

Borrowed from Ukrainian тризу́б (tryzúb, “trident”), from три (try, “three”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”)) + зуб (zub, “tooth”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos (“tooth; row of teeth; peg”)). See three, comb.

TSA

English

An initialism of Transportation Security Administration, a US federal agency created after the attacks of 11 September 2001.

Tsai

Origin

From Mandarin 蔡 (Cài), Wade–Giles romanization: Tsʻai⁴.

Tsang

Origin

From Cantonese 曾 (zang¹).

Tsao

Origin

Borrowed from Mandarin 曹 (cáo).

tsar

Latin

Borrowed from Russian tsar, which ultimately descends from the Latin name Caesar — the same root that gives German "Kaiser."

tsarevich

Origin

Borrowed from Russian царе́вич (carévič).

tsarina

Origin

Via Italian czarina or Spanish czarina, from German Czarin, Zarin, feminine form of Czar, Zar. By surface analysis, tsar + -ina.

tse

Russian

Borrowed from Russian цэ (cɛ).

Tseng

Origin

From the Wade–Giles romanization Tsêng¹ of Mandarin 曾 (Zēng).

tsk

Origin

Onomatopoeic expressive.

Tso

Origin

Borrowed from Mandarin 左 (Zuǒ).

tsoi

Origin

Variant of Choi.

Tsu

Japanese

From Japanese 津 (Tsu).

Tsui

Origin

From Cantonese 徐 (ceoi⁴) or 崔 (ceoi¹).

Tsukamoto

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 塚本 (Tsukamoto).

tsuna

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 綱 (tsuna), meaning "rope."

tsunami

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese tsunami, literally "harbour wave," from tsu ("harbour") and nami ("wave").

tsurugi

Japanese

From Japanese tsurugi, meaning "sword," specifically a straight double-edged blade.

Tt

Origin

Abbreviation of thirty-two.

TTC

English

An initialism with several unrelated expansions.

TTM

English

An initialism with several unrelated expansions.

TTS

English

An initialism of text to speech.

TTY

English

An abbreviation of teletypewriter, the early printing terminal that connected to a computer or telephone line.

TTYL

English

An initialism of 'talk to you later'.

Tu

Chinese

Borrowed from Chinese. Most likely from the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 屠 (Tú) or 涂 (Tú).

tuan

Origin

Borrowed from Wathaurong duwan.

tub

Middle English

From Middle English tubbe, tobbe, from Middle Dutch tubbe or Middle Low German tubbe, tobbe, further etymology unknown. Considered to be unrelated to tube.

tuba

Latin · 1800

Borrowed in the 1800s from French and German tuba, ultimately from Latin tuba, meaning "trumpet" — the same instrument used by Roman armies to signal troops.

Tubbs

Origin

Patronymic surname from the personal name Tubbe.

tubby

Origin

From tub + -y, describing someone shaped a bit like a barrel. It looks related to "chubby" but the resemblance is coincidental — the two words developed separately.

tube

Latin

From French tube, from Latin tubus ("pipe"), a relative of tuba ("trumpet") — both probably going back to a very old word for a hollow reed or pipe.

tubelight

Origin

From tube + light. Sense 2 (“dim-witted person”) refers to the tendency of some fluorescent tubes to flicker as well as the length of time it takes for some to light up completely after being switched on, which is likened to a person whose knowledge is inconsistent or who takes time to understand things.

tuber

Origin

From Latin tūber (“bump, hump, swelling”).

tuberculosis

Latin · 1800

Coined in the 1800s from Latin tuberculum ("small swelling") plus -osis ("diseased condition"), because the infection produces small lump-like nodules, or tubercles, in the lungs. For centuries before this scientific name existed, English simply called the disease "consumption," since it seemed to consume the sufferer's body away.

tubiform

Origin

From tube + -iform.

tubing

Origin

From tube + the suffix -ing.