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trellis

Etymology and origin of the English word trellis

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈtɹɛlɪs/[1]

Etymology

It comes from Middle English trelis,[2][3][4][5] from Old French trelis (“trellis; stout cloth”),[2][3][4] from Vulgar Latin *trilicius,[2][3][4] from Latin trilix (“woven with three threads”),[2][3][4][6] from tri- “three” and līcium “thread”.[2][3][4][6] Its sense was influenced by Old French treille “vine arbour”,[4] from Latin trichila “bower”, from which Merriam-Webster derives the word directly.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A lattice or grating; a structure of light crossing bars (1380 in Barnhart; about 1400–50 in the OED).[3][7][4]

Semantic evolution

The French word first meant a stout woven fabric and was extended to things woven of iron wire.[3][4] The sense of a lattice used to support fruit trees and climbing plants is recorded from 1513.[3][4][7] The verb, to furnish with a trellis, is from about 1400,[3][4][7] and to train a plant on a trellis from 1818.[7]

Timeline

  • 1380 – trelis, a lattice.[3]
  • about 1400 – verb, to furnish with lattice-work.[3][4][7]
  • 1513 – a support for climbing plants.[3][4][7]
  • 1818 – verb, to train on a trellis.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A frame of open latticework, especially one used to support vines and other climbing plants.
  2. An arbor, arch or summerhouse made of latticework.

Verb

  1. To provide with a trellis, or to train a plant on one.
  2. To form into a lattice; to interweave.

Word family

  • trellised
  • trelliswork
  • treillage
  • lattice
  • arbor

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ 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

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Trellis.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/trellis. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·