Etymologically
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trail

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /treɪl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English trailen, borrowed from Old French trailler, traillier (“to tow”),[2][3][4] probably from Vulgar Latin *trāgulāre “to drag”, from Latin trāgula “dragnet, sledge”,[2][3][4] probably related to trahere “to pull”.[2][3] Middle Low German treilen “to haul a boat” may also have contributed.[5][6] It is related to tract and trawl.[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To hang down and flow behind, as a gown: about 1300 in Etymonline, about 1303 in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne in Barnhart.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

To follow the track or scent of an animal is from the late 14th century in Etymonline, 1590 in Barnhart.[2][3] To drag along the ground is from about 1400, also of vines and plants.[2] The noun, the train of a robe, is from the early 14th century.[2][7] A track or scent left by a person or animal is from 1590,[3][2] and a path through the wilderness, chiefly American and Canadian, from 1807.[3][2] Trail off, of the voice, is by 1845,[2] and to lag behind in a contest by 1957.[2] The Trail of Tears, the forced removal of the Cherokee in 1838–9, is attested by 1908.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – to hang and drag behind.[2]
  • early 14th century – noun, the train of a robe.[2]
  • 1590 – a track or scent.[3]
  • 1807 – a path through wild country.[3]
  • 1845 – trail off.[2]
  • 1957 – to lag behind.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A path through countryside or a forest.
  2. A series of marks or signs left by someone or something passing.
  3. A route planned to pass places of interest: a heritage trail.
  4. A long thin line of something, such as smoke.

Verb

  1. To drag or be dragged along behind.
  2. To follow someone or something by its traces; to track.
  3. To be losing in a contest.
  4. To walk slowly and tiredly.
  5. Of a voice, to become gradually quieter: trail off.

Word family

  • trailless
  • trailingly
  • trailer
  • untrailed
  • contrail
  • trailblazing
  • distrail
  • trailable
  • trawl
  • tract

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press