Trend
/trɛnd/noun
A prevailing direction, tendency, or fashionable development.
Did you know?The earliest sense of “trend” was not about popularity but about a line or path turning in a particular direction, a meaning preserved in expressions such as “the trend of a river.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
Germanic
*trandijaną
“Possibly to turn, roll, or cause to revolve; the reconstructed ancestor is uncertain.”
Old English
Old English
trendan
“To roll, turn, or revolve.”
Middle English
Middle English
trenden
“To turn, roll, or bend in a particular direction.”
16th Century
English
trend
“To run or bend in a certain direction, especially of a road, coastline, or course.”
19th Century
English
trend
“A general tendency or direction of events, thought, or development.”
20th–21st Century
English
trend
“A popular or widely followed fashion, behavior, or cultural phenomenon.”