Etymology

trumpet

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Today it means: A musical instrument of the brass family, generally tuned to the key of B-flat; by extension, any type of lip-vibrated aerophone, most often valveless and not chromatic. Full definition →

Middle English trumpet ← Old French trompette ← Frankish *trumpa
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trumpet · noun, verb1

  1. Frankish · derived from*trumpa
  2. Old French · derived fromtrompette“trumpet”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromtrumpet
  4. English todaytrumpet

From Middle English trumpet, trumpette, trompette (“trumpet”), from Old French trompette (“trumpet”), diminutive of trompe (“horn, trump, trumpet”), from Frankish *trumpa, *trumba (“trumpet”), ultimately imitative. Cognate with Old High German trumpa, trumba (“horn, trumpet”), Middle Dutch tromme (“drum”), Middle Low German trumme (“drum”), Old Norse trumba (“pipe; trumpet”). More at drum. Displaced native English beme, from Middle English beme, from Old English bīeme.

Trumpet · noun2

Blend of Trump + trumpet. Named after American celebrity, businessman, politician and President Donald Trump

Words from the same roots

Frankish*trumpa all →

trump

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.