Tramp
/træmp/noun
A person who travels on foot from place to place, especially without a permanent home or job.
Did you know?The word’s history is grounded in the idea of a heavy tread or tramping walk, and later it became a label for wandering people—language turning motion into identity.
Etymological Timeline
Middle English
English
trampen
“to tread heavily; to tramp about”
15th Century
English
tramp
“a heavy footstep or the sound of heavy walking”
16th Century
English
tramp
“to walk heavily or travel on foot”
19th Century
English
tramp
“a wandering laborer or homeless traveler”
Modern English
English
tramp
“a person who travels from place to place, often without a fixed home”