Etymology

downtrodden

D2O1W4N1T1R1O1D2D2E1N1

Today it means: Oppressed, persecuted or subjugated. Full definition →

Middle English *dountroden
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

downtrodden · adjective1

  1. Middle English · derived fromdountreden“to tread down, trample”
  2. Middle English · inherited from*dountroden
  3. English todaydowntrodden

From Middle English *dountroden, past participle of Middle English dountreden (“to tread down, trample”), equivalent to down- + trodden.

downtrodden · verb2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishdountreden all →

downtread

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.