trailer English · revision 5998

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1590}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈtɹeɪlɚ/; /ˈtɹeɪlə(ɹ)/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an agent noun formed [[af|en|trail|-er]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A hound or huntsman that follows a trail: 1590 in the OED and MWU, the 1580s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) One who travels on foot, a footpad, is from 1591, a sense now obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Something that trails or hangs dragging, such as a trailing plant, is from the 1610s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A vehicle pulled by another is by 1890, first a small carriage drawn by a bicycle, soon one drawn by a motor vehicle.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Trailers for camping (trailer camp, 1921) came to be parked for good and lived in, giving the trailer park by 1936 and trailer court by 1939, especially in the United States after the Second World War;^(Etymonline) the derogatory ''trailer trash'' is attested by 1986.^(Etymonline) An advertisement for a film is by 1916, perhaps suggested by trailer for the blank end of a reel (1913).^(Etymonline) The OED dates the film excerpt from 1928.^(OED 1989) In the London of the 1870s, a trailer was a prowling cab driver.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1590 – a hound that follows a trail.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1610s – something that trails.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1890 – a vehicle drawn by another.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1916 – a film trailer.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1936 – trailer park.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An unpowered vehicle pulled by a car or [[truck]], for carrying goods or boats.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(US, Canada)'' A vehicle equipped to be lived in; a [[caravan]] or mobile home.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A series of short extracts from a film or programme, shown to advertise it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The rear part of an articulated lorry.^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person or thing that trails.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To carry by trailer.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[trailerable]]

+ * [[trailering]]

+ * [[tractor-trailer]]

+ * [[house trailer]]

+ * [[travel trailer]]

+ * [[trailer car]]

+ * [[trailer park]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[trail]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}