Etymograph

English

trade

Trade comes from Middle English trade ‘path’, from Middle Low German trade ‘track’, from Old Saxon trada, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dreh₂- ‘to tread’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dreh₂-‘to tread, walk, run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tradō‘track, way’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tradureconstructed
  4. Old Saxonc. 800–1200trada‘spoor, track’
  5. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600trade‘track, course’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘path, course of conduct’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1545same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dreh₂-‘to tread, walk, run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tradō‘track, way’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tradureconstructed
  4. Old Saxonc. 800–1200trada‘spoor, track’
  5. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600trade‘track, course’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘path, course of conduct’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1545same form

Earliest quotation: 1545, Nicholas Udall, Paraphrase on Luke: “The Jewes, emong whom alone and no moe, God…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dreh₂- ‘to run’

trot, drow, trow, 1 more

Today it means

noun The buying and selling of goods and services on a market.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dreh₂- / trade

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