Etymologically
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trick

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /trɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English trik, borrowed from Old French trique (“deceit, cheating”), an Old North French word,[2][3][4] from trikier “to deceive”, a variant of Old French trichier “to cheat”,[2][3] of uncertain origin.[2][5] The OED refers it to Vulgar Latin *triccāre, from Latin trīcārī “to be evasive”, from trīcae “trifles, nonsense”, as in extricate and intricate;[2][3] others suggest Middle Dutch trek “a pull; a trick”, a view not accepted by Romance scholars.[2][3] Trichier also gave treachery.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A thing done to deceive or cheat, a mean ruse: about 1412 in the OED and Barnhart, in Hoccleve's Regement of Princes.[7][3]

Semantic evolution

A small toy or knick-knack is from the 1550s, now obsolete,[2] and to play tricks is by the 1550s.[2] A clever device is from the 1570s,[2][7] a roguish prank from the 1580s,[2][7] and one's old tricks, bad habits, by the 1580s.[2][6] In cards, the cards played in one round are a trick by the 1590s,[2][8] hence miss a trick (1889, from whist).[2] A feat of skill to amuse is by about 1600, and the knack of doing something by the 1610s.[2][7] The verb, to deceive, is from the 1590s (1595 in the OED);[2][7] trick out, to dress up (about 1500), is perhaps a different word.[2] Trick or treat at Halloween is from 1947 in the OED.[7][6] Its senses have been entangled with those of trigger.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1412 – a deceit.[7][3]
  • 1573 – a clever device.[7]
  • 1590 – a prank.[7]
  • 1590s – the cards in a round; verb, to deceive.[2]
  • c. 1600 – a feat of skill.[2]
  • 1889 – miss a trick.[2]
  • 1947 – trick or treat.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Something done to deceive or cheat someone.
  2. A joke or prank played on someone.
  3. A skilful act done to entertain, such as a magic trick.
  4. A quick or clever way of doing something.
  5. The cards played in one round of a card game.
  6. A habit or mannerism.

Verb

  1. To deceive someone, especially into doing something.

Adjective

  1. Made for or used in tricks; or, of a joint, liable to fail suddenly.

Word family

  • tricker
  • trickingly
  • overtrick
  • undertrick
  • tricksy
  • trick-or-treat
  • trickish
  • tricksome
  • treachery
  • extricate
  • intricate
  • trickery
  • tricky
  • trigger

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 q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press