trench English · revision 1014

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tɹɛnt͡ʃ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|trenche|t=track cut through a wood]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|fro|trenche|t=a cut; a ditch]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''trenchier'' “to cut”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) probably from [[la-vul|*trincāre]], a variant of [[la|truncāre|t=to cut off, maim]], from ''truncus'' “trunk”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Merriam-Webster derives the Vulgar Latin verb from ''trīnī'' “three each”, as if “to cut in three”.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A path or track cut through a wood (c. 1386).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By 1489 the word meant a long narrow ditch,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) and about 1500 a ditch for military protection,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) later including the bank of earth thrown up in front of it (1585).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Trench warfare was the defining feature of the Western Front in the First World War, which gave the ''trench coat''.^(Etymonline) In oceanography a ''trench'' is a long deep channel in the sea bed (1936).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The verb meant “to cut” (1483) and later “to encroach” (1620s).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1386 – a track cut through a wood.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1483 – verb, to cut.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1489 – a long narrow ditch.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1500 – a military trench.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1620s – verb, to encroach.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1914 – ''trench warfare''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1936 – a deep channel in the sea bed.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A deep [[furrow]] or [[ditch]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A long narrow ditch, with the earth thrown up in front, used for protection in warfare.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A long, narrow, steep-sided depression in the [[ocean]] floor.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To dig a trench in, or to fortify with trenches; to [[entrench]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To dig a trench or trenches.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To encroach or verge, often with ''on'' or ''upon''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To make a cut in; to carve.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[retrench]]

+ * [[entrench]]

+ * [[trencher]]

+ * [[trench coat]]

+ * [[trench fever]]

+ * [[trench foot]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tranche]]

+ * [[trenchant]]

+ * [[truncate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}