Etymologically
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trailer

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈtɹeɪlɚ/; /ˈtɹeɪlə(ɹ)/ (UK)[1]

Etymology

It is an agent noun formed from English trail + -er.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A hound or huntsman that follows a trail: 1590 in the OED and MWU, the 1580s in Etymonline.[5][3][2] One who travels on foot, a footpad, is from 1591, a sense now obsolete.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

Something that trails or hangs dragging, such as a trailing plant, is from the 1610s.[2][5] A vehicle pulled by another is by 1890, first a small carriage drawn by a bicycle, soon one drawn by a motor vehicle.[2][5] Trailers for camping (trailer camp, 1921) came to be parked for good and lived in, giving the trailer park by 1936 and trailer court by 1939, especially in the United States after the Second World War;[2] the derogatory trailer trash is attested by 1986.[2] An advertisement for a film is by 1916, perhaps suggested by trailer for the blank end of a reel (1913).[2] The OED dates the film excerpt from 1928.[5] In the London of the 1870s, a trailer was a prowling cab driver.[6]

Timeline

  • 1590 – a hound that follows a trail.[5]
  • 1610s – something that trails.[2]
  • 1890 – a vehicle drawn by another.[2][5]
  • 1916 – a film trailer.[2]
  • 1936 – trailer park.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An unpowered vehicle pulled by a car or truck, for carrying goods or boats.
  2. (US, Canada) A vehicle equipped to be lived in; a caravan or mobile home.
  3. A series of short extracts from a film or programme, shown to advertise it.
  4. The rear part of an articulated lorry.
  5. A person or thing that trails.

Verb

  1. To carry by trailer.

Word family

  • trailerable
  • trailering
  • tractor-trailer
  • house trailer
  • travel trailer
  • trailer car
  • trailer park

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)