Etymograph

English

trap

Trap comes from Old English træppe ‘trap, snare’, from Proto-West Germanic *trappjan ‘to step’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *drebʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*drebʰ-‘to step, trip, trample’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*trapjaną‘to tread, stamp’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*trappjan‘to step’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*trappjā‘trap, snare’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150træppe‘trap, snare’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500trappe
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1613trap

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*drebʰ-‘to step, trip, trample’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*trapjaną‘to tread, stamp’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*trappjan‘to step’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*trappjā‘trap, snare’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150træppe‘trap, snare’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500trappe
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1613trap

Earliest quotation: 1613, William Shakespeare, The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight: “God and your majesty / Protect mine innocence, or…”

The story

Connection to "step" is "that upon which one steps". French trappe and Spanish trampa are ultimately borrowings from Germanic.

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *drebʰ-

Another origin of trap

  1. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600trappe‘stair, step’
  2. Swedishmoderntrapp‘step, stair, stairway’
  3. Englishtodaytrap

Today it means

noun A machine or other device designed to catch (and sometimes kill) animals, either by holding them in a container, or by catching hold of part of the body.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *drebʰ- / trap

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