Etymology

tread

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Today it means: To step or walk (on or across something); to trample. Full definition →

First used 1900sMiddle English treden ← Old English tredan ← Proto-West Germanic *tredan
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tread · verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*trudaną
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*tredan
  3. Old English · inherited fromtredan
  4. Middle English · inherited fromtreden
  5. English todaytread

From Middle English treden, from Old English tredan, from Proto-West Germanic *tredan, from Proto-Germanic *trudaną.

tread · noun2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromtred
  2. English todaytread

From Middle English tred, from treden (“to tread”).

First known use, by meaning

  • from 1900s The grooves carved into the face of a tire, used to give the tire traction.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.