Meanings
plural tronks
- South AfricaA prison.
It was built, as far as I can discover, because the Cape Argus rightly denounced the overcrowding of the old "tronk" on the waterfront.
1985, Lawrence George Green, Maureen Barnes, The best of Lawrence Green2 more examples
It must here be explained that the tronk, or jail, is the general receptacle, not only of convicted criminals, but of such Hottentots or slaves as are found, improperly or illegally wandering about the country […]
1824, William John Burchell, Travels in the Interior of Southern AfricaThe diary of another settler, who had been wrongfully imprisoned in the Tronk, and described the daily life there in no uncertain terms […]
1958, Isobel Rae, The strange story of Dr James Barry
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Latintruncus
- Portuguesetronco
- Dutchtronk
- Afrikaanstronk
- Englishtronk
Borrowed from Afrikaans tronk, from Dutch tronk, from Portuguese tronco, from Latin truncus. Doublet of truncus and trunk.
More words from Afrikaans, Dutch, Portuguese
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
tronk. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tronk
“tronk.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tronk. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tronk,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tronk.
Source: tronk on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.