Etymograph

English

trend

Trend comes from Middle English trenden ‘to roll about, turn, revolve’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *trandijan.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*trandijan1‘to turn’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150trendan1‘to roll about’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500trenden1‘to roll about’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1616trend1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English trend
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1616, William Browne, The Fourth Song: “Not farre beneath i' the Valley as ſhe trends…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*trandijanWiktionary, English trend‘to turn’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150trendanWiktionary, English trend‘to roll about’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500trendenWiktionary, English trend‘to roll about’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1616trendWiktionary, English trend. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1616, William Browne, The Fourth Song: “Not farre beneath i' the Valley as ſhe trends…”

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Today it means

noun An inclination in a particular direction.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “trend”. 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-West Germanic *trandijan / trend