trinket.
A small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery.
Meaning & usage
A small, showy ornament, especially a piece of jewellery.
That little trinket around her neck must have cost a bundle.
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.
A small item of food; a small dainty.
A small item forming part of a set of equipment; an accessory, an accoutrement.
An item used in a religious rite (also, a religious rite, belief, etc.) regarded as superfluous or trivial.
Where this word comes from
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.
Often followed by out: to adorn (someone or something) with trinkets (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1).
Where this word comes from
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.
A narrow or small watercourse.
Where this word comes from
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)”).
A small vessel for drinking from; a cup, a mug, a porringer.
Where this word comes from
Origin uncertain, possibly: * from trinket (“small, showy ornament; thing of little value”) (see etymology 1); or * borrowed from Welsh trànked.
A small sail, specifically, a three-cornered sail formerly carried on a ship's foremast, probably on a lateen yard.
Where this word comes from
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
To act in a secret, and often dishonest, way; to have secret, and often dishonest, dealings; to intrigue, to scheme.
Where this word comes from
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).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.