Etymograph

English

trammel

Trammel comes from Old French tramail ‘net for catching fish’, from Latin macula ‘spot, speck’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *smeH- ‘to wipe’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smeH-‘to wipe’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sm̥Htlómreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*smaklomreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmacula‘spot, speck’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEtremaculum
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tramail‘net for catching fish’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500trameyle
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590trammel

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*smeH-‘to wipe’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sm̥Htlómreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*smaklomreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmacula‘spot, speck’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEtremaculum
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tramail‘net for catching fish’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500trameyle
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590trammel

Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto II: “Her golden lockes she roundly did uptye In breaded…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *smaklom

mailed, maillot, 7 more

through Latin macula ‘spot, speck’

mail, mackerel, macchiato, mancha, macula, 9 more

Today it means

noun Whatever impedes activity, progress, or freedom, such as a net or shackle.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *smeH- / trammel

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