trinket

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

• General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtɹɪŋkɪt/
  Play
• General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  Play
• /ˈtɹɪŋkət/ weak vowel merger
  Play
• rhymes with -ɪŋkɪt
  Play
• CMU ARPABET: T R IH1 NG K AH0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  Play

The origin of the noun is unknown; the word is possibly related to Old French tryncle (“piece of jewellery”). The following have also been suggested: * From Middle English trenket, trynket (“small knife, specifically, a cordwainer’s knife”). * From trick (“plaything, toy; trifle”, noun) or trick (verb). However, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, there is insufficient evidence of any shift of meaning from these words to the current meanings of trinket. The verb is derived from the noun.

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)”).

Origin uncertain, possibly: * from trinket (“small, showy ornament; thing of little value”) (see etymology 1); or * borrowed from Welsh trànked.

PIE word *tréyes Probably from French trinquet (“foremast; sail attached to a foremast”), from Italian trinchetto (“small sail, especially a foresail”), possibly from Latin triquetrus (“three-cornered, triangular”) (referring to a three-cornered sail), from tri- (prefix meaning ‘three’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”)) + Proto-Indo-European *kweh1d- (“sharp”). Cognates * Catalan trinquet, triquete * French trinquet, trinquette * Italian trinchetto * Portuguese traquete * Spanish trinquete, trinquetilla

Possibly borrowed from Scots trinket, trincket; further origin unknown, possibly related to: * trinket (“item used in a religious rite (also, a religious rite, belief, etc.) regarded as superfluous or trivial”) (see etymology 1); or * trick (noun) or trick (verb).

80 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Bulgarian: дребно украшение (drebno ukrašenie) — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Catalan: galindaina — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Catalan: quincalla — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Chinese Mandarin: 小飾物 /小饰物 (xiǎoshìpǐn) — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Chinese Mandarin: 小玩意 (xiǎowányì) — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Czech: cetka — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Dutch: kleinood — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Esperanto: straso — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Finnish: hely — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• French: bibelot — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• French: breloque — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• French: colifichet — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• German: Schmuck — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• German: Schmuckgegenstand — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• German: Schmuckstück — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Greek: μπιχλιμπίδι (bichlimpídi) — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Ancient Greek: γλῆνος (glênos) — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Ancient Greek: λῆρος (lêros) — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Irish: daighsín — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Italian: cineseria — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Italian: ciondolo — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Italian: fronzolo — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Italian: gingillo — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Italian: ninnolo — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Japanese: 小物 (komono) — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Japanese: 安ピカ (yasupika) — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Macedonian: ситница (sitnica) — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Norwegian: nips — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Norwegian: smykke — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Norwegian: verdigjenstand — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Persian: زلم زیمبو (zalam-zimbo) — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Polish: bibelot — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Polish: szpargał — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Polish: błyskotka — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Polish: cacko — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Russian: безделу́шка (bezdelúška) — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Russian: побряку́шка (pobrjakúška) — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Slovak: čačka — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Spanish: oropel — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Spanish: perendengue — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Swedish: krimskrams — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Swedish: krusiduller — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Ukrainian: дрібни́чка (dribnýčka) — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Ukrainian: витребе́нька (vytrebénʹka) — small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery
• Bulgarian: дреболия (drebolija) — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Catalan: bagatel·la — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Catalan: fotesa — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Catalan: petitesa — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Chinese Mandarin: 瑣事 /琐事 (suǒshì) — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Chinese Mandarin: 小事 (xiǎoshì) — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Czech: cetka — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Dutch: prullaria — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Dutch: snuisterij — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Esperanto: bagatelo — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Finnish: rihkama — thing of little value — see also trifle
• French: babiole — thing of little value — see also trifle
• French: bricole — thing of little value — see also trifle
• French: broutille — thing of little value — see also trifle
• German: Kinkerlitzchen — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Italian: chincaglieria — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Japanese: 些事 (saji) — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Japanese: 小事 (shōji) — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Macedonian: дреболија (drebolija) — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Macedonian: дребнулија (drebnulija) — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Polish: bagatela — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Polish: błahostka — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Polish: drobiazg — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Polish: drobnostka — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Portuguese: bugiganga — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Portuguese: quinquilharia — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Russian: ме́лочи (méloči) — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Russian: пустя́к (pustják) — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Spanish: baratija — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Spanish: chácharas — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Spanish: chunche — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Spanish: perendengue — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Ukrainian: дрібни́чка (dribnýčka) — thing of little value — see also trifle
• Finnish: koristella helyin — to adorn (someone or something) with trinkets
• Polish: ozdabiać — to adorn (someone or something) with trinkets
• Polish: ozdobić — to adorn (someone or something) with trinkets