tramp

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English trampen (“to walk heavily, stamp”),^[2][3][4] probably borrowed from Middle Low German trampen (“to stamp”),^{[5][3][4][6][7]} a Low German or Dutch origin that the Shorter Oxford also calls probable;^[8] the OED instead treats it as a word inherited from Germanic, the same as trampen and the Low German verb.^[9] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Germanic *trempaną,^[4][10][11] the source also of Danish trampe and Swedish trampa (“to tramp, stamp”), which the OED derives from Low German,^[4][9] and of Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌼𐍀𐌰𐌽 (anatrimpan, “to press upon”).^[4][9][10] The OED and Barnhart add Middle High German trumpfen (“to run”) and Norwegian dialect trumpa (“to knock, push”).^[9][3] Skeat took it as a nasalised form of the base of trap,^[12] and Barnhart thinks it perhaps related to the same source as that word;^[3] Etymonline goes back to Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to run, walk, step”), the root of tread.^[4] Trample was formed from it with the frequentative suffix -le.^[7][12] The noun, first a vagrant, was formed from the verb in the 17th century.^[9][13][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To tread or walk with a firm, heavy step, to stamp: about 1395, in the Wycliffite Bible (Proverbs),^[9][3] in a manuscript from before 1425.^[9] The Middle English Dictionary also quotes Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus, from before 1398, of a horse that stamps in clear water to muddy it.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Scots the verb meant to press by treading, to trample (1533), and in Scotland washing was tramped in a tub.^[9][14] The sense "to walk steadily, to trudge, to travel on foot" appears in 1643,^[9] and Hoad dates "walk steadily" to the 16th century.^[7] From it came the noun tramp, a person who travels on foot looking for work or as a vagrant, first in a letter of 1664 in the Verney family memoirs.^[9] Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories calls it the plainest of the names for "gentlemen of the road", made by turning the verb into a noun.^[13] The phrase on the tramp, on one's way from place to place on foot, is recorded from 1760,^[9][4] and the noun for a long, tiring walk from 1787, in Burns, or 1786 in Etymonline's dating.^[9][4] The heavy tread of marching feet and its sound followed in the early 19th century.^[9][8] At sea a tramp was, from about 1880, a cargo ship that takes cargoes wherever it can find them instead of sailing a fixed route, and tramp steamer is recorded from 1887.^[9][4] The slang sense "promiscuous woman" is first found in 1922, in Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie,^[9][4] and in American slang tramp was also a general insult for a second-rate person (1909).^[15] In Australia to tramp a worker meant to dismiss him (1914).^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1395 – to tread heavily, to stamp.^[9][3][2]
• 1533 – to press by treading, to trample (Scots).^[9]
• 1643 – to walk steadily, to trudge, to travel on foot.^[9]
• 1664 – noun, a person who travels about on foot, a vagrant.^[9][4]
• 1760 – on the tramp, travelling about on foot.^[9][4]
• 1787 – a long, tiring walk.^[9]
• 1846 – to go about as a tramp.^[9][15]
• c. 1880 – a cargo ship with no regular route.^[9][4] Tramp steamer is recorded from 1887.^[9][4]
• 1922 – a promiscuous woman (slang, originally American).^[9][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To walk with heavy, firm steps: We heard the children tramping up the stairs.^[16][6][9]
2. To walk a long way, especially wearily; to trudge or hike.^[6][9]
3. To travel about on foot as a vagrant.^[6][9]
4. To cross or go through a place on foot: She tramped the city for a week looking for a room.^[6][9]
5. To tread on or trample.^[6][9]

Noun

1. A person who travels about on foot with no settled home, living by begging or casual work; a vagrant.^[6][16][8]
2. A long, tiring walk, or a walk in rough country for pleasure.^[8][9]
3. A heavy tread, or the sound of many feet walking: the tramp of soldiers in the square.^[8][9]
4. A cargo ship that takes cargoes to any port instead of sailing a fixed route; a tramp steamer.^[8][9]
5. (slang, offensive) A promiscuous woman.^[16][8][9]
6. An iron plate worn under a boot for digging, or the part of a spade pressed by the foot.^[8][9]

Word family

• tramper
• trampish
• trampy
• trampishly
• trampishness
• untramped
• trample
• tromp

Related words

• traipse
• trap
• tread

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ 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
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
12. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
14. ^ 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)
15. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
16. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster