Etymograph

English

trivia

Trivia comes from Latin trivia, plural of trivium ‘place where three roads meet’, from via ‘road’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to chase, pursue’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-‘to chase’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wih₁eh₂reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wiā‘road’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvia‘road’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrivius‘having three approaches’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrivium‘place where three roads meet’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrivia‘plural of trivium’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1943same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-‘to chase’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wih₁eh₂reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wiā‘road’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvia‘road’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrivius‘having three approaches’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrivium‘place where three roads meet’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrivia‘plural of trivium’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1943same form

Earliest quotation: 1943, Herbert L. Bregstein, The Armored Force and the Camera: “There is the story of the famous Hollywood glamour…”

The story

The term came to be used for any public place, and then for anything commonplace. Furthermore, because the beginners' course at university was called trivium, the word came to be used only for anything basic, simple and trivial.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to chase, pursue’

violent, virtual, violation, inevitable, virtue, vengeance, violate, avenge, vis, virtuous, venison, wer, vindication, virtuoso, ochre, vim, violator, inviolable, virile, virility, virago, 56 more

through Latin via ‘road, street, path’

previous, obvious, via, voyage, convey, envoy, deviation, deviant, viaduct, obviate, 16 more

Today it means

noun Insignificant trifles of little importance, especially items of unimportant information.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- / trivia

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