train

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A line of connected railway carriages pulled by an engine.

   We took the early train to London.

2. 2
   verb

   To practise a skill or exercise to prepare for something.

   She trains every morning for the marathon.

3. 3
   verb

   To teach a person or animal how to do something.

   He trains police dogs for a living.

4. 4
   noun

   The long back part of a dress or gown that trails along the floor.

   Two children carried the train of the bride's gown.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Train entered Middle English and comes from Latin trahere, “to pull” or “draw.” Early senses included the trailing part of a robe and a retinue. These gave rise to “a line of travelling people or vehicles” and, by the late Middle Ages, “a connected series of things,” as in train of thought. The verb could also mean “cause a plant to grow in a desired shape,” which became the basis of the sense “instruct.”

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ-der.? Latin trahere Vulgar Latin *tragīnāre Old French traïnerder. Old French trainder. Middle English trayne English train From Middle English trayne (“train”), from Old French train (“a delay, a drawing out”), from traïner (“to pull out, to draw”), from Vulgar Latin *traginō, from *tragō, from Latin trahō (“to pull, to draw”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tregʰ- (“to pull, draw, drag”). The verb was derived from the noun in Middle English. For the meaning to teach compare typologically Russian ната́скивать (natáskivatʹ) (akin to тащи́ть (taš…

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary