English
trenchant
Trenchant comes from Old French trenchier ‘to cut’.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400trenchier‘to cut’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400trenchantpresent participle of trenchier
- Englishearliest quotation 1663same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400trenchier‘to cut’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400trenchantpresent participle of trenchier
- Englishearliest quotation 1663same form
Earliest quotation: 1663, Samuel Butler, Hudibras: “The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty, / For want of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *twerḱ- ‘to carve, cut off, trim’
sarcasm, sarcastic, sarcoma, retrenchment, 15 more
through Latin truncus ‘trunk, shaft, main part’
through Latin truncō ‘to truncate’
through Old French trenchier ‘to cut’
Today it means
adj Fitted to trench or cut; gutting; sharp.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old French trenchier / trenchant