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trek

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is borrowed from Afrikaans trek (“a journey, the drawing of a wagon”),[2][3][4] from Dutch trekken, to march, journey, originally to draw, pull,[2][3] from Middle Dutch trecken, cognate with Middle Low German trecken and Old High German trechan, to pull.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In South Africa, a stage of a journey by ox wagon: 1849;[3][6][5] the verb, to travel or migrate by ox wagon, 1850, in R. G. Cumming's Hunter's Life in South Africa.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

An organized migration by ox wagon, especially the Great Trek of the Boers in 1835–37, is from 1890.[6][7] Figurative and transferred uses are from 1895,[6] and a long or hard journey in general, now in use everywhere, from 1941.[6] The American Heritage note remarks that fans of Star Trek may be surprised that the word began with oxen.[7]

Timeline

  • 1849 – a stage of an ox-wagon journey.[3][6]
  • 1850 – to trek (verb).[2][6]
  • 1890 – a Boer migration.[6]
  • 1941 – any long journey.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A long and often difficult journey, especially on foot.
  2. (South Africa) A journey by ox wagon, or a migration such as the Great Trek.

Verb

  1. To make a long or difficult journey; to hike.

Word family

  • trekker
  • untrekked

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin