train
/ˈtɹeɪn/ noun, verb, proper noun
- noun The elongated back portion of a dress or skirt (or an ornamental piece of material added to similar effect), which drags along the ground. “Unfortunately, the leading bridesmaid stepped on the bride's train as they were walking down the aisle.”
- noun A trail or line of something, especially gunpowder.
- noun The tail of a bird.
- noun (obsolete) The tail of an animal in general.
- noun (poetic) The elongated body or form of something narrow and winding, such as the course of a river or the body of a snake.
- noun (astronomy) A transient trail of glowing ions behind a large meteor as it falls through the atmosphere or accompanying a comet as it nears the sun; tail.
- noun (now rare) An animal's trail or track.
- noun (obsolete, hunting) Something dragged or laid along the ground to form a trail of scent or food along which to lure an animal.
- verb (intransitive) To practice an ability. “She trained seven hours a day to prepare for the Olympics.”
- verb (transitive) To teach and form (someone) by practice; to educate (someone). “You can't train a pig to write poetry.”
- verb (transitive, machine learning) To feed data into an algorithm, usually based on a neural network, to create a machine learning model that can perform some task.
- verb (intransitive) To improve one's fitness. “I trained with weights all winter.”
- verb (intransitive) To proceed in sequence.
- verb (transitive) To move (a gun) laterally so that it points in a different direction. “The assassin had trained his gun on the minister.”
- verb (transitive, horticulture) To encourage (a plant or branch) to grow in a particular direction or shape, usually by pruning and bending. “The vine had been trained over the pergola.”
- verb (transitive) To transport (something) by train.
- noun (uncountable, obsolete) Treachery; deceit.
- noun (countable, obsolete) A trick or stratagem.
- noun (countable, obsolete) A trap for animals, a snare; (figuratively) a trap in general.
- noun (countable, obsolete) A lure; a decoy.
Synonyms
railroad train string caravan wagon train gearing gear geartrain power train develop prepare educate discipline check condition groom school cultivate civilize civilise aim take take aim direct coach rail trail
Etymology
From Middle English trayne (“train”), from Old French train (“a delay, a drawing out”), from traïner (“to pull out, to draw”), from Vulgar Latin *traginō, from *tragō, from Latin trahō (“to pull, to draw”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tregʰ- (“to pull, draw, drag”). The verb was derived from the noun in Middle English.
For the meaning to teach compare typologically Russian ната́скивать (natáskivatʹ) (akin to тащи́ть (taščítʹ)).
From Middle English trayne (“treachery”), from Anglo-Norman traine, Middle French traïne, from traïr (“to betray”).
From Dutch traan (“tear, drop”), from Middle Dutch trâen, from Old Dutch trān, from Proto-West Germanic *trahnu (“tear”). Compare German Träne (“tear”), Tran (“train oil”).
As an English surname, from the noun train (“hunter's trap, snare”). Also from the Middle English phrase atte trewen (“at the trees”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To draw along; to trail; to drag.
- verb To draw by persuasion, artifice, or the like; to attract by stratagem; to entice; to allure. [Obs.]
- verb To be drilled in military exercises; to do duty in a military company.
- verb To prepare by exercise, diet, instruction, etc., for any physical contest; as, to train for a boat race.
Etymology [OF. trahiner, traïner,F. traîner, LL. trahinare, trainare, fr. L. trahere to draw. See Trail.]
Etymology [F. train, OF. traïn, trahin; cf. (for some of the senses) F. traine. See Train, v.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “train”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details