Etymologically
Log in

try

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 01:10. This address is a permanent link to this version.
← Previous version Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /traɪ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English trien, borrowed from Anglo-Norman trier, from Old French trier (“to pick out, cull, sift”),[2][3][4] a verb also found in Old Occitan triar and Catalan triar.[3][5] The AHD derives it from Vulgar Latin *triāre, and Barnhart and Etymonline from a Gallo-Romance *triāre of unknown origin.[6][3][2] MW suggests Latin trītāre (“to grind”) (Late Latin), a frequentative of terere (“to rub”),[7] a derivation Klein rejects on grounds of both meaning and sound.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To separate one thing from others, to set apart or distinguish, especially to pick out the good part (about 1300),[2] and to examine and decide judicially (before 1325).[3][9]

Semantic evolution

The senses grow from the idea of separating out the good by examination: hence “to examine, evaluate” and “to decide (a question) by combat” about 1300.[2] The legal sense “to examine and decide on the evidence, sit in judgement on” is by the mid-14th century,[2] as is “to put to the test, prove the worth of”.[2][3] “To attempt” is early 14th century,[2][3] “to subject to strain” (try one's patience) from the 1530s,[2] and “to test by use” from the 1540s.[2] In cookery try meant “to separate or reduce by boiling”, from the early 14th century.[2] A sailing ship lying to was at try in the 16th century, whence trysail.[9][5] The noun meant a sieve in the late 15th century,[5][2] and an attempt from the early 17th century,[5][10] though Etymonline has this colloquial sense only by 1832.[2] In rugby a try, touching the ball down behind the opponents' goal line, dates from the 1840s, named because it gives the right to try to kick a goal.[11] Try anything once dates from the 1920s.[11]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – to separate, distinguish, examine.[2]
  • before 1325 – to examine judicially.[3]
  • before 1333 – to attempt.[3]
  • early 14th century – in cookery, to render by boiling.[2]
  • mid-14th century – to test, and to try a case at law.[2]
  • late 15th century – noun, a sieve.[2][5]
  • 1530s – to strain (one's patience).[2]
  • 1540s – to test by use.[2]
  • 16th century – at try, of a ship lying to.[9][5]
  • 1570s – try one's luck.[2]
  • early 17th century – noun, an attempt.[5][10]
  • 1840s – a try in rugby.[11]
  • 1844 – to try a door, to see whether it is locked.[2]
  • 1920s – try anything once.[11]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To make an effort to do something; attempt.
  2. To taste, sample or test in order to judge quality or effect: try the soup.
  3. To examine (a case) in a court of law, or put (a person) on trial.
  4. To strain or tax: it tries my patience.
  5. To melt (fat) to separate out impurities; render.
  6. To test whether (a door or window) is locked.

Noun

  1. An attempt, an effort.
  2. (rugby) A score made by touching the ball down behind the opponents' goal line.

Word family

  • retry
  • triable
  • trying
  • try on
  • try out
  • try square
  • college try
  • trial
  • tried and true
  • trier
  • tryout
  • trysail

Usage notes

RHWU says try and for try to has been standard since the 17th century and occurs only with the base form try, not tries or tried;[12] the AHD calls it informal, and 65 percent of its Usage Panel rejected it in formal writing.[13] RHWU distinguishes try, the most general word, from attempt (often for serious matters, with a possibility of failure), endeavour (sustained, earnest effort) and strive (persistent, strenuous effort).[12]

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 t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  13. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin