trinket
/ˈtɹɪŋkɪt/ noun, verb
Forms trinkets trinketing trinketed
- noun A small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery. “That little trinket around her neck must have cost a bundle.”
- noun (figurative) A thing of little practical and/or monetary value; a toy, a trifle. “It’s only a little trinket, but it reminds her of him.”
- noun A small item of food; a small dainty.
- noun (chiefly in the plural) A small item forming part of a set of equipment; an accessory, an accoutrement.
- noun (figurative, religion, derogatory) An item used in a religious rite (also, a religious rite, belief, etc.) regarded as superfluous or trivial.
- verb (transitive, rare) Often followed by out: to adorn (someone or something) with trinkets (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1).
- noun (Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland) A narrow or small watercourse.
- noun (UK, dialectal, chiefly Cheshire, Lancashire, obsolete) A small vessel for drinking from; a cup, a mug, a porringer.
- noun (nautical, obsolete) A small sail, specifically, a three-cornered sail formerly carried on a ship's foremast, probably on a lateen yard.
- verb (intransitive, chiefly Scotland, obsolete) To act in a secret, and often dishonest, way; to have secret, and often dishonest, dealings; to intrigue, to scheme.
Synonyms
bagatelle bag of shells bric-a-brac dicky dicky-bird fico fig flamfew flyspeck minuity niff-naff picayune scuddick sop ticky-tack toy trick trifle triviality whiffle bangle bauble gaud gewgaw novelty fallal
Etymology
The origin of the noun is unknown; the word is possibly related to Old French tryncle (“piece of jewellery”). The following have also been suggested:
* From Middle English trenket, trynket (“small knife, specifically, a cordwainer’s knife”).
* From trick (“plaything, toy; trifle”, noun) or trick (verb).
However, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, there is insufficient evidence of any shift of meaning from these words to the current meanings of trinket.
The verb is derived from the noun.
From trink (“(UK, dialectal, especially Scotland) channel, watercourse; trench”) + -et (diminutive suffix); compare Scots trink. Trink is possibly derived from Occitan trencque, trenque (Picardy), from Old French trenche, tranche (“trench”) (modern French tranche), from trenchier (“to cut”); further etymology uncertain, possibly:
* from Latin truncāre, the present active infinitive of truncō (“to maim or mutilate by cutting off pieces; to truncate”), from truncus (“tree trunk; piece cut off”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *twerḱ- (“to carve; to cut off, trim”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs); or
* from Vulgar Latin *trinicāre (“to cut into three parts”), from Latin tri- (prefix meaning ‘three’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”)) + duplicāre (“to double by dividing, split in two, tear”);
possibly also influenced by Gaulish *trincare (“to cut off (the head)”).
* from trinket (“small, showy ornament; thing of little value”) (see etymology 1); or
* borrowed from Welsh trànked.
Probably from French trinquet (“foremast; sail attached to a foremast”), from Italian trinchetto (“small sail, especially a foresail”), possibly from Latin triquetrus (“three-cornered, triangular”) (referring to a three-cornered sail), from tri- (prefix meaning ‘three’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”)) + Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₁d- (“sharp”).
* Catalan trinquet, triquete
* French trinquet, trinquette
* Spanish trinquete, trinquetilla
Webster’s 1913
- noun A three-cornered sail formerly carried on a ship's foremast, probably on a lateen yard.
- noun A knife; a cutting tool. Tusser.
- noun A small ornament, as a jewel, ring, or the like.
- verb To give trinkets; hence, to court favor; to intrigue. [Obs.]
Etymology [F. trinquet foremast, also, a certain sail, trinquette a triangular sail, or Sp. trinquete triangular.]
Etymology [OE. trenket a sort of knife, hence, probably, a toy knife worn as an ornament; probably from an Old French dialectic form of trenchier to cut. Cf. Trench, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “trinket”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details