English
trip
Trip comes from Middle English trippen ‘to step lightly’, perhaps from Old French triper ‘to hop, dance’, or Middle Dutch trippen.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400triper1‘to hop or dance around’uncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500trippen1‘to step lightly, skip’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512trip1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English trip
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “And the Pharasay / Then durst nothynge say, /…”.
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400triperWiktionary, English trip‘to hop or dance around’uncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500trippenWiktionary, English trip‘to step lightly, skip’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512tripWiktionary, English trip. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “And the Pharasay / Then durst nothynge say, /…”
The story
Related also to trap, tramp.
Every English word from Old French triper
Another origin of trip
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400trippe
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tryppe‘a group of animals’
- Englishtodaytrip
Possibly related to troop.
Today it means
noun A journey; an excursion or jaunt.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “trip”. 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 / Old French triper / trip