trunk

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The thick main stem of a tree.

   We carved our initials into the trunk of the old oak.

2. 2
   noun

   The covered space at the back of a car for carrying luggage.

   I put my golf bag in the trunk.

3. 3
   noun

   The long, bendy nose of an elephant.

   The elephant used its trunk to pull leaves from the branch.

4. 4
   noun

   A large, strong box used for storing or carrying belongings when travelling.

   She packed all her clothes into a heavy travelling trunk.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Trunk came through Old French from Latin truncus, “the main stem of a tree.” That central-stem sense gave rise to uses for the human torso and other main connecting structures, while early chests were called trunks because they were made from tree trunks. The tree stem’s cylindrical form also prompted the name for an elephant’s trunk in the 16th century.

From Middle English tronke, trunke, from Old French tronc (“alms box, tree trunk, headless body”), from Latin truncus (“a stock, lopped tree trunk”), from truncus (“cut off, maimed, mutilated”). For the verb, compare French tronquer, and see truncate. Doublet of truncus and tronk.

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary