train English · revision 3164

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1330|origins=la trahere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /treɪn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|trayne]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|train|t=tracks, path, trail of a robe; act of dragging]] (feminine traïne),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|fro|traïner|t=to pull, drag, draw]] (modern traîner),^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la-vul|*tragināre]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) extended from *tragere “to pull”, a back-formation from tractus, the past participle of [[la|trahere|t=to pull, draw]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb is [[inh|enm|traynen]], from the same Old French verb.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) The word is thus related to [[trace]], [[trail]], [[tractor]], [[contract]] and [[extract]].^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A drawing out of time, delay: about 1330,^(OED 1989) or before 1338 in Mannyng's ''Chronicle'';^(Barnhart 1988) the sense is now obsolete.^(Etymonline) The verb is first recorded in 1375, “to draw along, allure”, in Barbour's ''Bruce''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The idea in the word is “that which is drawn along behind”.^(Etymonline) From the late 14th century it was the trailing part of a gown or robe, and a retinue or procession;^(Etymonline) the retinue gave rise to a line of travelling people or vehicles, and later to any connected series of things, as in ''train of thought''.^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998) In clocks and watches it is a set of wheels through which motion passes, by 1797.^(Etymonline) A locomotive with its coupled cars is recorded from 1820 (in a text dated 1816)^(Etymonline) or before 1824,^(Barnhart 1988) at first in phrases such as ''a train of wagons''.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb's sense “to direct the growth of a plant” is from the mid-15th century,^(Etymonline) and “to instruct, discipline” from 1542,^(Barnhart 1988) probably from the earlier sense of drawing out and shaping something into a desired form.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) To exercise oneself for a performance is by 1832,^(Etymonline) to aim a gun or camera by 1841,^(Etymonline) and to travel by railway from 1856.^(Etymonline) Athletes' ''training shoes'' were later shortened to ''trainers''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1330 – delay.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1375 – verb, to draw along, allure.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – trailing part of a gown; a retinue.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1440 – a procession.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-15th century – to direct a plant's growth.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1542 – to instruct, discipline.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1797 – a train of wheels.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1820 – a railway train.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1841 – to aim (a gun).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1856 – to travel by train.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A series of connected railway cars or carriages pulled by a [[locomotive]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A long line of moving people, animals or vehicles.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A part of a gown that trails behind the wearer.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A group of attendants; a [[retinue]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A connected series of events or ideas: ''a train of thought''.^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+ # A set of [[gear|alt=gears]] or wheels that transmit motion.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The vehicles and staff that supply a combat unit.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To teach a skill or behaviour by instruction and practice.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To prepare physically for a contest, as by exercise.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To make (a plant) grow in a desired shape.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To [[aim]] or point (a gun, camera or the like).^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To drag or trail.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[trainability]]

+ * [[trainable]]

+ * [[trainful]]

+ * [[trainless]]

+ * [[aerotrain]]

+ * [[detrain]]

+ * [[housetrain]]

+ * [[hovertrain]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[trail]]

+ * [[trace]]

+ * [[tract]]

+ * [[tractor]]

+ * [[contract]]

+ * [[extract]]

+ * [[attract]]

+ * [[retreat]]

+ * [[portrait]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two other words spelled ''train'' are now obsolete: one meant treachery, a trick or a trap, from Old French traïne, from traïr “to betray”,^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) and the other was the old name of train oil, from Middle Dutch traen.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) In Lincolnshire, Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire dialect to ''train'' a river was to dredge it.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}