English
trio
Trio comes from Italian trio ‘trio, threesome’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tréyes1‘three’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*trejes1reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*trēs1‘three’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrēs2‘three’
- Italianc. 1300–presenttrio3‘trio, threesome’
- Englishearliest quotation 1923trio3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin tres
- 2 Wiktionary, Italian trio
- 3 Wiktionary, English trio
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1923, Ernest Bramah pseudonym; Ernest Brammah , (please specify the page): “I gave a yell for assistance, landed the leader…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tréyesWiktionary, Latin tres‘three’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*trejesWiktionary, Latin tresreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*trēsWiktionary, Latin tres‘three’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrēsWiktionary, Italian trio‘three’
- Italianc. 1300–presenttrioWiktionary, English trio‘trio, threesome’
- Englishearliest quotation 1923trioWiktionary, English trio. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1923, Ernest Bramah pseudonym; Ernest Brammah , (please specify the page): “I gave a yell for assistance, landed the leader…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *tréyes ‘three’
three, tri, tern, troika, 11 more
through Latin trēs ‘three’
distribution, contribute, tribute, tribe, tribal, tribunal, trinity, tribune, trey, tres, triplex, 9 more
Today it means
noun A group of three people or things.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “trio”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin tres, Italian trio. 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 *tréyes / trio