traffic English · revision 2774

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1505}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈtræf.ɪk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|trafique|t=trade]], traffique,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[it|traffico]] (early 14th century),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|it|trafficare|t=to carry on trade]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) which is of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) The OED (1989) takes the noun to be the noun of action from the verb.^(Etymonline) Corominas, like the OED, proposes Vulgar Latin *trānsfricāre “to rub across”, from Latin trāns- “across” and fricāre “to rub”, with an original sense “to touch repeatedly, handle”;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) or the second element may be an unexplained alteration of Latin facere “to make”.^(Etymonline) Klein suggests Arabic tafriq “distribution”,^(Etymonline) and a 19th-century derivation from Arabic taraffaqa “to seek profit” is no longer accepted.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Trade, commerce: 1505 in Barnhart and the OED, figuratively;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the transportation of merchandise for trade is from 1506,^(OED 1989) about 1500 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word originally referred to the commercial transport of goods or passengers,^(Cresswell 2021) and in the 1560s widened to trade and the exchange of goods.^(Etymonline) The spelling ''traffick'', rare before 1600, was common in the 17th century, and ''traffic'' prevailed in the 18th.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) A suggestion of sinister or illicit dealing is by the 1660s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and survives in ''trafficking'', dealing in drugs or people.^(Cresswell 2021) People and vehicles coming and going along a route is from before 1825,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and the business done by a railway by 1858.^(Etymonline) The word became prominent in city planning for motor cars from about 1915;^(Etymonline) the ''traffic circle'' is American from 1942,^(Barnhart 1988) the ''traffic warden'' first appeared in London in 1960,^(Cresswell 2021) and ''traffic calming'', translating German Verkehrsberuhigung, arrived in the late 1980s.^(Cresswell 2021) The verb, “to carry on trade”, is from 1540 or 1542.^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) The k in ''trafficking'' keeps the hard sound before -ing, as in ''picnicking''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1505 – trade, commerce.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1540 – verb, to trade.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1660s – illicit dealing.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1825 – the coming and going of people and vehicles.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1858 – the business of a railway.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1915 – motor traffic in city planning.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1942 – ''traffic circle''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1960 – ''traffic warden''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The vehicles, people, ships or aircraft moving along a route; their movement.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The messages or data passing through a [[communications]] system.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Trade, especially illegal or improper [[commerce]]: ''the drug traffic''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The business of carrying passengers and goods; the number carried.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To trade, especially in something illegal: ''trafficking in drugs''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[trafficker]]

+ * [[trafficless]]

+ * [[intertraffic]]

+ * [[trafficator]]

+ * [[trafficability]]

+ * [[trafficable]]

+ * [[air traffic]]

+ * [[traffic court]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[trafficking]]

+ * [[friction]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}