Trip
/trɪp/noun
A short journey or a stumble/fall; also, to move lightly or cause someone to stumble.
Did you know?The verb sense of “trip” is tied to old ideas of catching someone’s feet, and that same root family also gave English words for “tread” and “thread” through the ancient notion of stepping.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*trep-
“to tread, step, or turn”
Old English
OE
tryppan
“to tread or step lightly; to trip or stumble”
Middle English
ME
trippen
“to stumble, skip, or move lightly”
16th Century
English
trip
“to stumble or make someone stumble; also to move nimbly”
17th–18th Century
English
trip
“a short journey or excursion”
Modern English
English
trip
“a journey, a stumble, or an act of causing someone to stumble”