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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 with Unicode^® support and fonts spanning the Unicode 3 character set relevant to Indo-European languages. Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 2 and ISO-8859-1) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: 3. der-, drā-, dreb-, drem-, dreu- 'to run, trip, tread, tramp'

Semantic Fields: to Run; to Walk; to Drop; Foot

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
English
Old English:	tredan, træd, trǣdon, treden	vb.str	to tread	GED/ASD
	treddan	vb.wk	to tread, trample	GED/ASD
	treddian	vb.wk	to tread	GED
	tredel	n.masc	step, sole	GED/ASD
	trem/trym	n.neut	step	GED
	treppan	vb	to tread	W7
	treppe	n.fem	trap	W7
	trod(u)	n.neut/fem	track	GED
Middle English:	dromedarie	n	dromedary	W7
	dromond	n	dromond	W7
	titeren	vb	to totter, reel	W7
	trade	n	trade	W7
	trampen	vb	to tramp	W7
	tramplen	vb.freq	to trample	W7
	trap	n	snare, pitfall	W7
	tredel	n	treadle, stairstep	W7
	treden	vb	to tread	W7
	trippen	vb	to trip	W7
	trot	n	trot	W7
English:	anadromous	adj	ascending rivers from sea for breeding	AHD/W7
	-drome	n.sfx	field, (race)course, arena	AHD
	dromedary	n	speedy camel, bred/trained for riding	AHD/W7
	dromond	n	large fast medieval galley/cutter	AHD/W7
	-dromous	adj.sfx	running	AHD/W7
	entrap	vb.trans	to catch (as if) in trap	AHD/W7
	loxodrome	n	rhumb line	AHD/W2I
	palindrome	n	text spelled the same backward/forward	AHD/W7
	prodromal	adj	precursory, marked by prodromes	W7
	prodrome	n	premonitory symptom of disease	AHD/W7
	teeter	vb.intrans	to wobble, move unsteadily	AHD/W7
	trade	n	way, path traversed	AHD/W7
	tramp	vb	to walk/tread/step (esp. heavily)	AHD/W7
	trample	vb	to tramp repeatedly	IEW
	trampoline	n	resilient canvas web/sheet held in frame by springs	AHD/W7
	trap	n	snare/device for taking game/other animals	AHD/W7
	trap	n	fine-grained igneous rocks (e.g. basalt/amygdaloid)	AHD/W7
	tread, trod, trodden	vb.str	to step/walk on/over	AHD/W7
	treadle	n	swiveling lever pressed by foot to drive machine	AHD/W7
	trip	vb	to skip/dance/caper with quick light steps	AHD/W7
	troll	n	giant inhabiting hills/caves (Teutonic folklore)	W7
	troll-fells	n	rocky troll locale in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	trot	n	moderately fast gait (legs of quadruped move in diagonal pairs)	AHD/W7
	wentletrap	n	marine snail with white shell	AHD/W7
W-Germanic
Old Frisian:	treda	vb.str	to tread, trample upon	GED
	treppe	n	step	ASD
Middle Dutch:	trappe	n.fem	trap, stair	W7
	treden	vb.str	to tread	GED
	wendeltrappe	n	winding stair	W7
Dutch:	trap	n	stairs	TLL
	trappen	vb	to tread, trample	ASD
	wenteltrap	n	winding stair	W7
Old Saxon:	trada	n	track, treading	GED
Old Low German:	tredan/tretan	vb	to tread (down), trample upon	ASD
Middle Low German:	trade	n	track, treading	GED
	trampen	vb	to tramp, stamp	W7
	trappe	n.fem	trap, stair	W7
	treden	vb.str	to tread	GED
Old High German:	trapo	n.fem	trap	ASD
	trata	n	track, course, treading	GED
	tretan	vb.str	to tread	GED
	trettōn	vb	to tread, trample upon	ASD
	trota	n.wk.fem	wine-press	GED
	trotōn	vb.wk	to press	GED
	trottōn	vb	to tread	W7
	zittarōn	vb	to shiver, tremble	GED
Middle High German:	treten	vb.str	to tread	GED
	trol(le)	n.masc	troll, goblin, monster	IEW
	trot(t)e	n.wk.fem	wine-press	GED
German:	Trampolin	n.fem	trampoline	LRC
	Treppe	n.fem	step, stairs, staircase	ASD
	treten	vb	to tread	LRC
	trotten	vb	to trot	LRC
N-Germanic
Old Norse:	troll	n.neut	troll, fiend, demon, monster	IEW/W7
	trolldómr	n	witchcraft	OED
Old Icelandic:	(a-)troð	n	treading	GED
	titra	vb	to tremble	GED
	treðja	vb	to tread upon, trample	GED
	troða, trað	vb.str	to tread	GED
	trǫð	n.fem	cow-pen, fenced lane	GED
Icelandic:	tratta	vb	to tread (under foot), trample upon	ASD
	troð	n.neut	treading	ASD
	troða	vb	to tread (down), trample upon	ASD
Norwegian:	troll	n	troll, dwarf	W7
Danish:	trappe	n	stairs	TLL
	trold	n	troll, imp, dwarf	W7/OED
Swedish:	trapp(a)	n	step, stair	W7
	troll	n	troll, imp, dwarf	OED
	trolla	vb	to charm, bewitch	OED
E-Germanic
Gothic:	ga-trudan	vb.str.IV	to tread down	GED
	trudan	vb.str.IV	to tread, trample upon	GED
Italic
Late Latin:	dromo, dromonis	n.masc	light ship	W7
New Latin:	-dromus	sfx	-dromous, re: running	W7
Spanish:	trampolín	n.masc	trampoline	W7
Middle French:	dromedaire	n.masc	dromedary	W7
	dromont	n.masc	dromond	W7
	entraper	vb	to entrap	W7
	trape	n.fem	trap	W7
	trot	n.masc	trot	W7
French:	prodrome	n.masc	ensemble of symptoms leading up to the development of a medical condition	W7
	trottoir	n	sidewalk	LRC
Hellenic
Homeric Greek:	δρόμος	n.masc	race, course, running	GED
Greek:	anadramein	vb	to run upward	W7
	anadromos	adj	running upward	W7
	(ἀπο-)διδρᾱ́σκω	vb	to escape	GED
	δραμεῖν	vb	to run	GED
	dromas	adj	running	W7
	drómos	n.masc	run, race, course	W7
	dromōn	n.masc	race	W7
	palindromos	adj	running back again	W7
	πρό-δρομος	adj	prodromal, running forward/in advance	LS
Indic
Sanskrit:	drámati	vb	to run about	GED
	drávati	vb	to run	GED
	drā́ti	vb	to run, gallop	GED

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

Abbrev.		Meaning
IV	=	class 4
adj	=	adjective
fem	=	feminine (gender)
freq	=	frequentative (aspect)
intrans	=	intransitive
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
sfx	=	suffix
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)
GED	=	Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)
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)
TLL	=	Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W2I	=	Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd ed. (1959)
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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