tros

Forms

tros n^[1]

Etymology

It has close matches in Old English trūs (“brushwood”)^[2][3] and in Old Frisian tros (“tree stump, fragment”);^[4] a link with Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐌰𐍂𐍄𐍂𐌿𐍃𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (ufartrusnjan, “to sprinkle over”) is doubtful.^[4] Köbler reconstructs Proto-Germanic *trus with a question mark.^[5] It belongs with trys “trifle” and Icelandic trosna (“to fray”).^[6][4]

Its further origin is uncertain.^[4] De Vries, starting from the sense “what falls from trees”, puts it with the family of tré “tree”,^[4] and rejects Torp's derivation from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to tear”), with a first sense “what is broken off”,^[4][7] which Köbler follows.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In Old Norse it means fallen twigs and leaves gathered for fuel: in the Postola sögur Páll samnaði trosum til elds “Paul gathered sticks for the fire”, and in Snorra Edda Thor suspects that tros nokkut af kvistunum “some twigs” fell on his head.^[9][10][11] From “litter” the modern Icelandic word widened to rubbish, shoddy goods and fish of little value.^[6][12]

Meanings

Noun

1. fallen leaves and twigs, brushwood gathered for fuel.^[1][9][13]
2. rubbish, refuse.^[9][10][11]

Descendants

• Icelandic tros^[6]
• Norwegian Nynorsk tros^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. tros
2. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 354
3. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1016
4. ^ a b c d e f de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 599
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. tros
6. ^ a b c d Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. tros
7. ^ Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 170
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. trūs
9. ^ a b c Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 641
10. ^ a b Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. tros
11. ^ a b Faulkes, Anthony (2011), A New Introduction to Old Norse III: Glossary and Index of Names, 4th ed., London: Viking Society for Northern Research, p. s.v. tros
12. ^ Sigfús Blöndal (1920–1924), Islandsk-dansk ordbog, Reykjavík, p. 868
13. ^ Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 664