trash

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*dóru“tree”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*þrakjaz“dirt”
3. Old Norse · derived fromtros“rubbish, fallen leaves and twigs”
4. Middle English · inherited fromtrasch
5. English todaytrash

From Middle English trasch, trassh, probably a dialectal form of *trass (compare Orkney truss, English dialectal trous), from Old Norse tros (“rubbish, fallen leaves and twigs”), perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *þrakjaz (“dirt”). Pokorny instead derives it from Proto-Indo-European *dóru (“tree”). Compare Norwegian trask (“lumber, trash, baggage”), Swedish trasa (“rag, cloth, worthless fellow”), Swedish trås (“dry fallen twigs, wood-waste”). Compare also Old English þreax (“rottenness, rubbish”).

Words from the same roots