Truckleman
/ˈtrʌkəlmən/noun
An obsequious or servile person who readily submits to others.
Did you know?The verb “truckle,” meaning to behave submissively, developed from the low truckle bed—a small wheeled bed that rolled beneath a larger one—creating a striking metaphor for social inferiority.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kʷel-
“To turn, revolve, or move around”
Ancient Greek
Greek
trokhos
“A wheel or anything that runs”
Ancient Greek
Greek
trokhileia
“A pulley or arrangement of wheels”
Latin
Latin
trochlea
“A pulley or wheel-like mechanism”
Middle English
Anglo-French/English
trocle; truckle
“A small wheel or caster; later, a low bed mounted on wheels”
Early Modern English
English
truckle
“To submit or behave servilely, probably influenced by the low position of a truckle bed”
16th–17th Century
English
truckleman
“A person who truckles—an obsequious or submissive follower”