*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of trump

Possibly from French triomphe (“triumph”) or Old French triumphe. If so, it is a doublet of triumph and thriambus. Compare German Trumpf.

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 3 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
verb

To play on (a card of another suit) with a trump. · To play a trump, or to take a trick with a trump. · To get the better of, or finesse, a competitor. · To impose unfairly; to palm off.

noun

The suit, in a game of cards, that outranks all others. · A playing card of that suit. · Something that gives one an advantage, especially one held in reserve. · An excellent person; a fine fellow, a good egg.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Possibly from French triomphe (“triumph”) or Old French triumphe. If so, it is a doublet of triumph and thriambus. Compare German Trumpf.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 4 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "dercat",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "itc-ola",
        "4": "ett",
        "5": "grc",
        "6": "qsb-grc"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "triomphe",
        "t": "triumph"
      },
      "expansion": "French triomphe (“triumph”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "triumphe"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French triumphe"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "triumph",
        "3": "thriambus",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "doublet of triumph and thriambus"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Trumpf"
      },
      "expansion": "German Trumpf"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "triomphe",
      "triomphe#French"
    ],
    [
      "triumphe",
      "triumphe#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "triumph",
      "triumph#English"
    ],
    [
      "thriambus",
      "thriambus#English"
    ],
    [
      "Trumpf",
      "Trumpf#German"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To play on (a card of another suit) with a trump.",
        "To play a trump, or to take a trick with a trump.",
        "To get the better of, or finesse, a competitor.",
        "To impose unfairly; to palm off."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive",
        "intransitive",
        "dated"
      ],
      "recordId": "abccd9eb99d0798fc185d18b290ff427222eefb003551a05a97347e640498f11",
      "rawRecordSha256": "52fbda56520aabaf4fa5d6082de7d014f3daced54dd15de49d80c49112f16521",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 416503
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The suit, in a game of cards, that outranks all others.",
        "A playing card of that suit.",
        "Something that gives one an advantage, especially one held in reserve.",
        "An excellent person; a fine fellow, a good egg."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "archaic",
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "recordId": "d138ffd4ce80f155470725c54dd8e6f4fa0cc73d51ce62dcb85c88c8a82ef384",
      "rawRecordSha256": "b40674020471d01d299ca0e992ce24881a754ee0c7150fef4aa2e7c051ecf023",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 416502
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 4,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

A trumpet. · A fart. · The noise made by an elephant through its trunk.

verb

To blow a trumpet. · To fart.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English trumpe, trompe (“trumpet”), from Old French trompe (“horn, trump, trumpet”), from Frankish *trumpa (“trumpet”), from a common Germanic word of imitative origin. Doublet of tulumba and tromp. Akin to Old High German trumpa, trumba (“horn, trumpet”), Middle Dutch tromme (“drum”), Middle Low German trumme (“drum”). More at trumpet, drum.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentiontrumpeenm
  • Derivation mentiontrompefro · horn, trump, trumpet
  • Doublet mentiontulumbaen
  • Doublet mentiontrompen
  • Cognate mentiontrumpagoh
  • Cognate mentiontrommedum · drum
  • Cognate mentiontrummegml · drum
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "trumpe"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English trumpe"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "trompe",
        "t": "horn, trump, trumpet"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French trompe (“horn, trump, trumpet”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "frk",
        "3": "*trumpa",
        "t": "trumpet"
      },
      "expansion": "Frankish *trumpa (“trumpet”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Germanic"
    },
    {
      "name": "onomatopoeic",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "title": "imitative"
      },
      "expansion": "imitative"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "tulumba",
        "3": "tromp"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of tulumba and tromp"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "goh",
        "2": "trumpa"
      },
      "expansion": "Old High German trumpa"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "dum",
        "2": "tromme",
        "t": "drum"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Dutch tromme (“drum”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gml",
        "2": "trumme",
        "t": "drum"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Low German trumme (“drum”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "trumpe",
      "trumpe#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "trompe",
      "trompe#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "trompe",
      "trompe#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "*trumpa",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/trumpa"
    ],
    [
      "tulumba",
      "tulumba#English"
    ],
    [
      "tromp",
      "tromp#English"
    ],
    [
      "trumpa",
      "trumpa#Old_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "trumba",
      "trumba#Old_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "tromme",
      "tromme#Middle_Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "trumme",
      "trumme#Middle_Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "trumpet",
      "trumpet#English"
    ],
    [
      "drum",
      "drum#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A trumpet.",
        "A fart.",
        "The noise made by an elephant through its trunk."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "UK",
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "recordId": "63599664e7a9c5dff43f7130f34bd6a5f0e6f75ee409bc0f62171f5d8f5bd11a",
      "rawRecordSha256": "ffd7874b9b2a3021e18e5116e49ca191ee623a99501ba146365cc86b5ded6cb9",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 416504
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To blow a trumpet.",
        "To fart."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "colloquial",
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "recordId": "bb13616b18434f5dd77beea65ef24636993db55c7afb5c577665044079cae917",
      "rawRecordSha256": "3352dfac46519d520935de803f1334332b62aa2e4b8ea28b37b5ddab507b4cfb",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 416505
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗
noun

Synonym of Jew's harp.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Ellipsis of Jew's-trump, which may be from French jeu-trompe (literally “toy trumpet”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "ellipsis",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Jew's-trump"
      },
      "expansion": "Ellipsis of Jew's-trump"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "jeu-trompe",
        "lit": "toy trumpet"
      },
      "expansion": "French jeu-trompe (literally “toy trumpet”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Jew's-trump",
      "Jew's-trump#English"
    ],
    [
      "jeu",
      "jeu#French"
    ],
    [
      "trompe",
      "trompe#French"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Unami",
      "lang_code": "unm",
      "word": "tëlëmp",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Synonym of Jew's harp."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated"
      ],
      "recordId": "487458a76f862829b1d76c2861a9ede2f16553c129ee403a2ddabfd97d07cc8e",
      "rawRecordSha256": "a7f84d9e849f9878fe834a7e5a32e55d15bf88a47dfbdaa9c08bd1a71ab6aecb",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 416506
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for trump →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-dHJ1bXA