trump English · revision 2680

+ English has two main words spelled ''trump'': the old word for a [[trumpet]], and the winning card, an alteration of [[triumph]].^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /trʌmp/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|trumpet}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1297|origins=frk *trumpa}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The trumpet is [[inh|enm|trompe]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|trompe|t=long tube-like wind instrument]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) probably from a Germanic source,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[frk|*trumpa]],^(SOED 2002) compare Old High German trumpa, trumba and Old Norse trumba;^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) the word is probably imitative.^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A trumpet, a trumpet-blast: 1297,^(OED 1989) about 1300;^(Etymonline) as a surname, for a trumpeter or herald, from the late 13th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Figurative use, one who or that which summons or proclaims, as in ''trump of fame'', is by the 1520s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''The last trump'', the trumpet of Judgment Day, keeps this word.^(Cresswell 2021) In Scotland and the north a ''trump'' was a Jew's harp, from 1549.^(OED 1989)^(Wright 1898) In slang it is also an audible breaking of wind, from 1903.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1297 – a trumpet.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 13th century – as a surname.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1520s – one who proclaims.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1549 – a Jew's harp.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1903 – breaking wind (slang).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(archaic)'' A [[trumpet]], or its sound: ''the last trump''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(Scotland)'' A [[Jew's harp]].^(MW Collegiate)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[trumpet]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|card}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1529, Latimer|origins=la triumphus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The card is an alteration of [[triumph]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) which was the name of a card game and of a trump in it in 1529;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) French la triomphe was a very frequent name of a card game from the late 15th century, and Medieval Latin had triumphus.^(Etymonline) Barnhart thinks it may also be loosely associated with [[trumpet]], as of announcing the trump suit.^(Barnhart 1988) Latin triumphus is probably from Greek thríambos, a hymn to Bacchus.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A card of the suit that for the time ranks above the others: 1529, in Latimer's ''Sermons'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the 1520s;^(Etymonline) the name also covered an obsolete card game, also called ruff.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Games with trumps appear to be ancient, and national variants are played across Europe;^(Etymonline) in 16th-century England the word was used of a game that grew into whist.^(Etymonline) ''To turn up trumps'', “to turn out better than expected”, is from 1595,^(OED 1989) from games in which the suit of the card turned up becomes trumps.^(Cresswell 2021) A person of surpassing excellence is a ''trump'' by 1819.^(Etymonline) The verb, “to take with a trump”, is from 1598,^(Barnhart 1988) but its figurative sense “to surpass, beat” is earlier, from 1586,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) and an obsolete sense “to put in someone's way as an obstruction” is from 1553.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Trump card'' is attested by 1822.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1529 – a trump card; a card game.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1553 – verb, to obstruct.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1586 – verb, to surpass.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1595 – ''to turn up trumps''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1598 – verb, to take with a trump.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1819 – an excellent person.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1822 – ''trump card''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A card of a [[suit]] that ranks above all others for a hand.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''trumps'': The suit that ranks above the others.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A key resource kept for use at the right moment.^(AHD)

+ # ''(dated)'' A reliable, admirable person.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To take (a card or trick) with a trump.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To outdo or get the better of: ''ambition trumps loyalty''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[trump card]]

+ * [[no-trump]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[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”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) In west Yorkshire a ''trump'' was a spring knife.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}