trident

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin tridēns (“three-pronged; a trident”), also borrowed from Old French trident,^[2][3][4][5] formed from tri- (“three”) and dēns (“tooth”),^[2][5][6][7] from Proto-Indo-European *dent- (“tooth”).^[8][5] The Latin word is the noun use of an adjective meaning "three-pronged, three-toothed".^[8][4] The OED and Barnhart name Latin as the source, and Barnhart and the MED also allow trident,^[2][4][3] recorded in French from the 13th or 14th century.^[2] The Latin noun is related to tooth and dental.^[9][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A three-pronged spear or sceptre, associated with Neptune: about 1450, "Neptunus with his grete trydent Stroke the erth".^[3][4] The OED's first record of the noun is 1599, in Nashe's Lenten Stuffe,^[2] and of the adjective 1589, in Greene's Menaphon.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

The trident was first the spear or sceptre of the sea god Poseidon or Neptune,^[2][8] and as such it came to stand for naval power, carried by Britannia and shown on coins.^[9][2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "a three forked sceptre of Neptune", quoting Shakespeare: "He would not flatter Neptune for his trident".^[10] From 1693 it was also the spear of the retiarius in Roman gladiatorial combat,^[2][11] and it had figurative uses from 1638.^[2] From 1730 it was applied to anything shaped like a trident, such as a three-pronged fork,^[2] and in geometry, from 1710, to a cubic curve of that shape.^[2] The adjective "having three prongs" is recorded from 1589.^[2][9] Since 1972 Trident has been the name of a class of US nuclear submarines and of the ballistic missile they carry.^[2][8][12]

Timeline

• c. 1450 – a three-pronged spear, Neptune's.^[3][4]
• 1589 – adjective, having three prongs.^[2][9]
• 1599 – the trident of Poseidon or Neptune, also borne by Britannia.^[2]
• 1638 – figurative uses.^[2]
• 1693 – the spear of the Roman retiarius.^[2]
• 1710 – in geometry, a cubic curve.^[2]
• 1730 – anything shaped like a trident.^[2]
• 1972 – Trident, a US nuclear submarine and its missile.^[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A three-pronged spear or sceptre, the attribute of the sea god Poseidon or Neptune.^[12][9][2]
2. Such a spear as a symbol of naval power, borne by Britannia or shown on coins.^[9][2]
3. Any three-pronged instrument or weapon, such as a fish spear: The fishermen speared eels with a trident.^[12][9][2]
4. The three-pronged spear of a retiarius in gladiatorial combat in ancient Rome.^[2][11]
5. Trident: a US submarine-launched ballistic missile, or the nuclear submarine that carries it.^[12][2]
6. In geometry, a plane cubic curve shaped like a trident.^[2]

Adjective

1. Having three prongs or points.^[12][9][2]

Word family

• tridented
• tridental

Related words

• tooth
• dental
• dentist
• tri-

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d 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)
4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins