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trinket

noun
/ˈtɹɪŋkɪt/US/ˈtɹɪŋkət/

Etymology

PIE word *tréyes From trink (“(UK, dialectal, especially Scotland) channel, watercourse; trench”) + -et (diminutive suffix); compare Scots trink. Trink is possibly derived from Occitan trencque, trenque (Picardy), from Old French trenche, tranche (“trench”) (modern French tranche), from trenchier (“to cut”); further etymology uncertain, possibly: * from Latin truncāre, the present active infinitive of truncō (“to maim or mutilate by cutting off pieces; to truncate”), from truncus (“tree trunk; piece cut off”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *twerḱ- (“to carve; to cut off, trim”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs); or * from Vulgar Latin *trinicāre (“to cut into three parts”), from Latin tri- (prefix meaning ‘three’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”)) + duplicāre (“to double by dividing, split in two, tear”); possibly also influenced by Gaulish *trincare (“to cut off (the head)”).

  1. derived from *trincare✻ — “to cut off (the head)”
  2. derived from *tréyes✻ — “three”
  3. derived from tri-
  4. derived from *trinicāre✻ — “to cut into three parts”
  5. derived from *twerḱ-✻ — “to carve; to cut off, trim”
  6. derived from truncāre
  7. derived from trenche
  8. derived from trencque

Definitions

  1. A small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery.

    • That little trinket around her neck must have cost a bundle.
    • [H]e's an old man, / A good old man, they ſay too: I dare ſvveare / Full many a yeare ago, he left theſe gambols: / Here, take your trinkets.
    • Hence is the Fair vvith Ornaments ſupply'd, / Hence ſprung the glitt'ring Implements of Pride; / Each Trinket that adorns the modern Dame, / Firſt to theſe little Artiſts ovv'd its Frame.

  2. A thing of little practical and/or monetary value

    A thing of little practical and/or monetary value; a toy, a trifle.

    • It’s only a little trinket, but it reminds her of him.

  3. A small item of food

    A small item of food; a small dainty.

    • [L]et Tim send the ale and the sack, and the nipperkin of double-distilled, with a bit of diet-loaf, or some such trinket, and score it to the new comer.
  4. ›+ 7 more definitions

    1. A small item forming part of a set of equipment

      A small item forming part of a set of equipment; an accessory, an accoutrement.

      • Good huſbandes that laye, to ſaue all thing vpright: / for Tumbrels and cartes, haue a ſhed redy dight. / A ſtore houſe for trinkets, kept cloſe as a iayle: / that nothing be wanting, the worthe of a nayle.
      • [T]he poorer ſort of common ſouldiers haue euery man his leather bag or ſachell well ſowen together, wherin he packs vp all his trinkets, and ſtrongly truſſing it vp hangs it at his horſes tayle, and ſo paſſeth ouer, in manner aforeſaid.

    2. An item used in a religious rite (also, a religious rite, belief, etc.) regarded as…

      An item used in a religious rite (also, a religious rite, belief, etc.) regarded as superfluous or trivial.

    3. Often followed by out

      Often followed by out: to adorn (someone or something) with trinkets (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1).

    4. A narrow or small watercourse.

      • It must have been about the same moment that a smack drew through the fine mist in the Firth [of Forth], and, sailing up the trinket, landed Provost Trail on the east pier-head.

    5. A small vessel for drinking from

      A small vessel for drinking from; a cup, a mug, a porringer.

      • Mrs. Bargrave asked her, vvhether ſhe vvould not drink ſome Tea. Says Mrs. Veal, I do not care if I do: But I'le VVarrant this Mad Fellovv (meaning Mrs. Bargraves Husband,) has broke all your Trinckets.

    6. A small sail, specifically, a three-cornered sail formerly carried on a ship's foremast,…

      A small sail, specifically, a three-cornered sail formerly carried on a ship's foremast, probably on a lateen yard.

      • [H]ee ſet up the trinkets or ſmall ſailes, meaning to make vvay into the deepe, commanding them that follovved ſtill, to make head, and direct their provvs againſt the right vving neere the land.

    7. To act in a secret, and often dishonest, way

      To act in a secret, and often dishonest, way; to have secret, and often dishonest, dealings; to intrigue, to scheme.

      • All this I was ready to do for a woman, who trinkets and traffics with my worst foes!

The neighborhood

Derived

trinkery, trinketer, trinketry, trinkety, trinkilo, trinklement, trinklet, trinkum

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for trinket. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA