## Etymology
From trifle (from Old French truffle, trufle 'mockery, deceit, trifle', variant of trufe 'deception', of uncertain origin) + the suffix -ing.

## AI Etymology
Trifling comes from trifle (from Old French truffle, trufle 'mockery, deceit, trifle', variant of trufe 'deception', of uncertain origin) + the suffix -ing. The historical chain includes Old French trufle. The quoted older senses, "mockery, deceit, trifle" and "deception", supply the semantic anchors for trifling. The formation is best read as suffixal, compound, and borrowed: the word trifling carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "of little value or importance; trivial". Related English forms include trifle and trifler. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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