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trump

Etymology and origin of the English word trump

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English has two main words spelled trump: the old word for a trumpet, and the winning card, an alteration of triumph.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /trʌmp/[4]

trump1 trumpet

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1297
Borrowed from
Old French trompe via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Frankish (*trumpa)

Etymology

The trumpet is inherited from Middle English trompe,[5][1] borrowed from Old French trompe (“long tube-like wind instrument”),[5][2] probably from a Germanic source,[5][1] Frankish *trumpa,[3] compare Old High German trumpa, trumba and Old Norse trumba;[2][1] the word is probably imitative.[2][1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A trumpet, a trumpet-blast: 1297,[7] about 1300;[5] as a surname, for a trumpeter or herald, from the late 13th century.[5]

Semantic evolution

Figurative use, one who or that which summons or proclaims, as in trump of fame, is by the 1520s.[5][7] The last trump, the trumpet of Judgment Day, keeps this word.[8] In Scotland and the north a trump was a Jew's harp, from 1549.[7][9] In slang it is also an audible breaking of wind, from 1903.[7]

Timeline

  • 1297 – a trumpet.[7]
  • late 13th century – as a surname.[5]
  • 1520s – one who proclaims.[5]
  • 1549 – a Jew's harp.[7]
  • 1903 – breaking wind (slang).[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (archaic) A trumpet, or its sound: the last trump.
  2. (Scotland) A Jew's harp.

Word family

trump2 card

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1529, Latimer
Ultimate origin
Latin (triumphus)

Etymology

The card is an alteration of triumph,[5][10][1] which was the name of a card game and of a trump in it in 1529;[10][7] French la triomphe was a very frequent name of a card game from the late 15th century, and Medieval Latin had triumphus.[5] Barnhart thinks it may also be loosely associated with trumpet, as of announcing the trump suit.[10] Latin triumphus is probably from Greek thríambos, a hymn to Bacchus.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A card of the suit that for the time ranks above the others: 1529, in Latimer's Sermons,[10][7] the 1520s;[5] the name also covered an obsolete card game, also called ruff.[7]

Semantic evolution

Games with trumps appear to be ancient, and national variants are played across Europe;[5] in 16th-century England the word was used of a game that grew into whist.[5] To turn up trumps, “to turn out better than expected”, is from 1595,[7] from games in which the suit of the card turned up becomes trumps.[8] A person of surpassing excellence is a trump by 1819.[5] The verb, “to take with a trump”, is from 1598,[10] but its figurative sense “to surpass, beat” is earlier, from 1586,[10][1] and an obsolete sense “to put in someone's way as an obstruction” is from 1553.[10] Trump card is attested by 1822.[5]

Timeline

  • 1529 – a trump card; a card game.[10][7]
  • 1553 – verb, to obstruct.[10]
  • 1586 – verb, to surpass.[10][1]
  • 1595 – to turn up trumps.[7]
  • 1598 – verb, to take with a trump.[10]
  • 1819 – an excellent person.[5]
  • 1822 – trump card.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A card of a suit that ranks above all others for a hand.
  2. trumps: The suit that ranks above the others.
  3. A key resource kept for use at the right moment.
  4. (dated) A reliable, admirable person.

Verb

  1. To take (a card or trick) with a trump.
  2. To outdo or get the better of: ambition trumps loyalty.

Word family

  • trump card
  • no-trump
  • triumph
  • trumped-up

Usage notes

A third word, now heard only in trump up, “to fabricate (a charge)”, from 1695, comes from an earlier trump “to deceive, cheat” (1513), from Old French tromper “to deceive”.[10][2] In west Yorkshire a trump was a spring knife.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  2. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b 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)
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Trump.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/trump. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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