Etymograph

English

tremie

Tremie comes from French trémie ‘hopper’, from Latin trimodia ‘a measure or vessel containing three modii’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *med-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*med-1‘to measure’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mod-ós1‘measure’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*modos1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmodus2‘a measure’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmodius3‘modius, a unit of dry measure of about a peck or 9 litres’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrimodia4‘a measure or vessel containing three modii’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presenttrémie4‘hopper’
  8. Englishtodaytremie4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin modus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin modius
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin trimodia
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English tremie

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*med-Wiktionary, Latin modus‘to measure’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mod-ósWiktionary, Latin modus‘measure’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*modosWiktionary, Latin modusreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmodusWiktionary, Latin modius‘a measure’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmodiusWiktionary, Latin trimodia‘modius, a unit of dry measure of about a peck or 9 litres’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrimodiaWiktionary, English tremie‘a measure or vessel containing three modii’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presenttrémieWiktionary, English tremie‘hopper’
  8. EnglishtodaytremieWiktionary, English tremie

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *med- ‘to measure’

must, medical, medicine, moderate, medication, modest, meditation, med, medicinal, blackmail, medic, moderator, remedy, meditate, molding, modulate, mote, mete, commode, moulder, 21 more

through Proto-Italic *modos

modernize, modality, 9 more

through Latin modus ‘a measure’

model, modern, mode, mood, module, commodity, modification, mold, mould, modulation, modal, modus, modulus, modicum, modulo, modifiable, 16 more

through Latin modius ‘modius, a unit of dry measure of about a peck…’

mud, 7 more

Today it means

noun A device used to pour concrete underwater, usually a tube of sheet metal with a hopper-like top generally handled by a crane.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tremie”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin modus, Latin modius, Latin trimodia. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *med- / tremie

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