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Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings may appreciate the source & meaning tips that pop up when the mouse pointer hovers over a non-obvious word or name that he coined from Indo-European (usually Old English or Old Norse) stock. But only reflexes of PIE etyma can be included, and these tend to concentrate in the vocabulary of Rohan and the Shire.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Note: this page is for systems/browsers lacking Unicode^® support, or having less than full Unicode 2.0 font support. Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 3 and Unicode 2) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: 3. ter-, teru-, and teri-, trei-, tri-, also teru- : treu- 'to bore, drill, rub, thresh'

Semantic Fields: to Bore; to Rub

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
Celtic
Scots Gaelic:	truaghan	n.masc	wretch	W7/GE
English
Old English:	truht	n	trout	W7
	turnian/tyrnan	vb	to turn	W7
	þerscold/þrescwald	n.masc	threshold	W7
	þræd	n.masc	thread	W7
	þrawan	vb.str	to throw, cause to twist/turn	W7/ASD
	þrea	n.fem	threat, rebuke, reproof, infliction	IEW/ASD
	þrescan	vb	to thresh	W7
	ðrowian, ðrowade, ðrowad	vb.wk.II	to suffer, endure	LRC
Middle English:	attournen	vb	to attorn	W7
	attourney/atturny/aturne(ye)	n	attorney	W7/CDC
	attricioun	n	attrition	W7
	contrit	adj	contrite	W7
	detriment	n	detriment	W7
	drage/drege	n	dredge	W7
	retournen	vb	to return	W7
	septentrion	n	septentrion	W7
	thrawen	vb	to throw	W7
	thred	n	thread	W7
	thresshen	vb	to thresh	W7
	thresshold	n	threshold	W7
	throwen	vb	to throw, cause to twist	W7
	trepane	n	trepan	W7
	tribulacion	n	tribulation	W7
	trout	n	trout	W7
	truant	n	truant	W7
	turn	n	circuit	W7
	turnen	vb	to turn	W7
English:	atresia	n	closure/absence of body tube/orifice	AHD
	attorn	vb.intrans	to agree to be tenant to new owner/landlord of same property	AHD/W7
	attorney	n	one legally appointed to transact business	AHD/W7
	attrition	n	abrasion, rubbing things together	AHD/OED
	contour	n	outline of curving/irregular figure	AHD/W7
	contrite	adj	grieving/penitent for sin/shortcoming	AHD/W7
	derma	n	dermis: sensitive mesodermic skin layer	AHD/W7
	detour	n	deviation from direct course/usual procedure	AHD/W7
	detriment	n	hurt, damage, injury	AHD/W7
	diatribe	n	prolonged discourse	AHD/W7
	dredge	n	sweetmeat: food rich in sugar	AHD/W7
	dredge	vb.trans	to coat/cover (food) by sprinkling (e.g. with flour)	AHD/W7
	drill	n	tool with edged/pointed end for making holes by rotating/striking	W7
	drill	vb	to bore/pierce with drill	AHD/W7
	monotreme	n	primitive egg-laying mammal	AHD
	return	vb	to go/come back again	AHD/W7
	septentrion	n	north, northern regions	AHD/W7
	teredo	n	shipworm: marine clam	AHD/W7
	terete	adj	approx. cylindrical but tapering at both ends	AHD/W7
	Thráin	prop.n	Dwarf name in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	thrash	vb	to thresh, separate seeds from straw/husks by beating	AHD/W7
	thread	n	filaments twisted together into continuous strand	AHD/W7
	thresh	vb	to separate seed from harvested plant	AHD/W7
	threshold	n	sill, stone/plank/timber that lies under door	AHD/W7
	Thrór	prop.n	Dwarf king in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	throw, threw, thrown	vb.str	to propel through air by forward motion of hand/arm	AHD/W7
	toreutics	n	metalworking via carving/chasing/embossing	AHD
	tour	n	shift, scheduled turn; visit	TLL
	trafine/trefine	n.obs	trephine	AHD/W7
	trauma	n	extrinsically caused wound/injury to living tissue	AHD/W7
	trematode	n	parasitic flatworm (e.g. fluke)	AHD/W7
	trepan	n	trephine	AHD/W7
	trephine	n	surgical tool for cutting circular sections	AHD/W7
	triboelectricity	n	electrical charge generated by friction	AHD/W7
	tribology	n	science of surfaces in relative motion	AHD
	tribulation	n	distress/suffering caused by oppression/persecution	AHD/W7
	trite	adj	stale, hackneyed from overuse	AHD/W7
	triturate	vb.trans	to grind, crush	AHD/W7
	trogon	n	nonpasserine tropical bird	AHD/W7
	trout	n	fresh-water food fish	AHD/W7
	truant	n	one who shirks duty	AHD/W7
	trypanosome	n	parasitic flagellate protozoan infesting vertebrates	AHD/W7
	trypsin	n	proteolytic enzyme in pancreatic juice	AHD/W7
	turn	n	rotation, revolution, act of turning about axis/center	AHD/W7
	turn	vb	to rotate, revolve, move around axis/center	AHD/W7
W-Germanic
Old Frisian:	thred	n.masc	thread	ASD
Dutch:	draad	n.masc	thread	ASD
	draaijen	vb	to turn, twist	ASD
	drillen	vb	to drill	W7
Old Low German:	thraan	vb	to turn, twist	ASD
	thrad	n.masc	thread, string	ASD
Old High German:	draen	vb	to turn	W7
	drajan	vb.wk	to turn, twist	ASD
	drat	n.masc	thread, wire	W7/ASD
	dreskan	vb	to thresh	W7
	droen/druoen	vb	to suffer	ASD
German:	Draht	n.masc	thread, wire	ASD
	drehen	vb	to turn	LRC
	dreschen	vb	to thresh	LRC
	drillen	vb	to drill	LRC
N-Germanic
Old Norse:	Þráinn	prop.n	Thráin (Voluspa dwarf)	LRC
	þreskjöldr	n	threshold	W7
	Þrór	prop.n	Thrór (Voluspa dwarf)	LRC
Old Icelandic:	þrár	adj	firm, stubborn, obstinate, tenacious	IEW/ICE
Icelandic:	þráðr	n.masc	thread	ASD
	þresköldr	n.masc	threshold	ASD
Danish:	traad	n.masc	thread	ASD
Swedish:	tråd	n	thread	TLL
Italic
Latin:	attero, atterere	vb	to rub against	W7
	attritio, attritionis	n.fem	attrition, action/result of rubbing	W7
	attritus	vb.ptc	rubbed against	W7
	contero, conterere	vb	to grind, bruise	W7
	detrimentum	n.neut	loss, prejudice	W7
	septentrio	n.masc	north wind, North	W7
	septentriones	n.masc.pl	7 plow oxen, 7 stars of Ursa Major/Minor	W7
	teredo, teredinis	n.fem	teredo, wood worm	W7
	teres, teretis	adj	rounded, well turned	W7
	tergeo, tergere	vb	to wipe, scour, clean	RPN
	tergo, tergere	vb	to wipe, scour, clean	RPN
	tero, terere	vb	to rub, wear away	RPN
	torno, tornare	vb	to turn on a lathe	W7
	tornus	n.masc	lathe	W7
	tragemata	n.neut.pl	sweetmeats	W7
	tribulatio, tribulationis	n.fem	distress, suffering, trying experience	W7
	tribulatus	vb.ptc	oppressed, afflicted	W7
	tribulo, tribulare	vb	to press, oppress	W7
	tribulum	n.neut	threshing sledge	W7
	triones	n.masc.pl	plow oxen, stars of Ursa Major/Ursa Minor	W7
	triticum	n	wheat	LRC
	tritura	n.fem	threshing, act of rubbing	W7
	tritus	vb.ptc	rubbed	W7
Late Latin:	trituratus	vb.ptc	threshed	W7
	trituro, triturare	vb	to thresh	W7
	trocta/tructa	n.fem	trout	W7
Middle Latin:	attornare	vb	to attorn	CDC
Medieval Latin:	attritio, attritionis	n.fem	attrition	W7
	trepanum	n.neut	trepan, tool for mining	W7
New Latin:	derma	n.fem	skin layer	W7
	trogon	n.neut	trogon	W7
	Trypanosoma	n.fem	(genus name for) trypanosome	W7
Portuguese:	trigo	n	wheat	LRC
Spanish:	alrededor	adv	around	TLL
	trigo	n	wheat	LRC
Old French:	at(t)orne	n	attorney	CDC
	at(t)orner/at(o)urner	vb	to attorn	W7/CDC
	attrition	n	attrition	AHD
	destor	n.masc	detour, diversion	W7
	destorner	vb	to divert	W7
	torner	vb	to turn	W7
	tour(n)	n.masc	turn, lathe, ring, circuit	W7
	tribulacion	n.fem	tribulation, trying experience	W7
Middle French:	atorné	vb.ptc	legally appointed	W7
	atorner	vb	to appoint as attorney	W7
	contrit	adj	contrite	W7
	détriment	n.masc	detriment, impairment	W7
	dragie	n.fem	candy	W7
	retourner	vb	to turn back	W7
	septentrion	n.masc	the North	W7
	tourner	vb	to turn	W7
French:	attrition	n	attrition	CDC
	autour	adv	around	TLL
	contour	n.masc	contour, outline	W7
	détour	n.masc	detour, diversion	W7
	tourner	vb	to turn	W7
	tréphine	n.fem	trephine	W7
Italian:	attorno	adv	around	TLL
	contornare	vb	to round off, sketch in outline	W7
	contorno	n.masc	contour	W7
Baltic
Lithuanian:	tárpas	n.masc	space, period	LRC
	tráukti, tráukia, tráuke	vb	to attract	LRC
	trinù, trìnti	vb	to rub	RPN
Latvian:	starp	adv	among, between	LRC
Slavic
Old Church Slavonic:	ti'ro, treti	vb	to rub, wear down	RPN
Hellenic
Greek:	diatribê	n.fem	delay; pastime, amusement	LS
	dia-tríbô	vb	to spend time, lit. rub between	LS
	teírô	vb	to rub hard, wear away	RPN
	terêdôn	n.fem	teredo, wood worm	LS
	tetraínô	vb	to bore, pierce, perforate	LS
	tórnos	n.masc	(carpenter's) compass	LS
	trágêma	n.neut	dessert, sweetmeat	LS
	tragôdía	n.fem	tragedy	LRC
	traûma	n.neut	trauma, damage, defeat	LS
	trêma	n.neut	hole, orifice, perforation	LS
	trematodes	adj	pierced with holes	W7
	tríbô	vb	to rub, thresh, wear out	LRC
	trúpanon	n.neut	trepan, auger, piercing instrument	LS
	trupáô	vb	to bore, pierce	LS
	trúpê	n.fem	hole	LS
	trúô	vb	to rub down, wear out	RPN
	trôgô	vb	to gnaw, nibble	LS
	trôktês	n.masc	gnawer, nibbler	LS

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev.		Meaning
II	=	class 2
adj	=	adjective
adv	=	adverb(ial)
fem	=	feminine (gender)
intrans	=	intransitive
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
obs	=	obsolete
pl	=	plural (number)
prop	=	proper
ptc	=	participle
str	=	strong (inflection)
trans	=	transitive
vb	=	verb
wk	=	weak (inflection)

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code		Citation
AHD	=	Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD	=	Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
CDC	=	W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911)
GE	=	Colin Mark: The Gaelic-English Dictionary (2003)
ICE	=	Richard Cleasby and Gudbrand Vigfusson: An Icelandic-English Dictionary (1874)
IEW	=	Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959)
LRC	=	Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
LS	=	Liddell and Scott: Greek-English Lexicon, 7th-9th ed's (1882-1940), rev.
OED	=	James A.H. Murray et al: The Oxford English Dictionary (1933)
RPN	=	Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002)
TLL	=	Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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