English
trite
Trite comes from Latin trītus ‘worn out’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- ‘to rub, rub by twisting, twist, turn’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*terh₁-‘to rub, rub by twisting, twist, turn’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEterō‘to wear away, wear out’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrītus‘worn out’perfect passive participle of terō
- Englishearliest quotation 1897trite
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*terh₁-‘to rub, rub by twisting, twist, turn’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEterō‘to wear away, wear out’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrītus‘worn out’perfect passive participle of terō
- Englishearliest quotation 1897trite
Earliest quotation: 1897, W. B. Kimberly: “It is a trite saying in a young country…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- ‘to rub, rub by twisting, twist, turn’
turn, throw, tournament, thread, threshold, tragic, trout, tyrone, detour, thrash, tourney, tourniquet, thresher, tyro, termite, thresh, truant, derma, 41 more
through Latin terō ‘to wear away, wear out’
detrimental, detriment, attrition, tribulation, detritus, 8 more
through Latin trītus ‘worn out’
Another origin of trite
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tr̥tyós ~ *tritósreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτρῐ́τοςas τρίτηliterally ‘third string’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtritē
- Englishtodaytrite
Unadapted borrowing from Latin tritē, from Ancient Greek τρίτη (trítē, literally “third [string]”).
Today it means
adj used so many times that it is commonplace, or no longer interesting or effective; worn out, hackneyed.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- / trite