- trump (v.)
- "fabricate, devise," 1695, from trump "deceive, cheat" (1513), from M.E. trumpen (late 14c.), from O.Fr. tromper "deceive," of uncertain origin, perhaps from a verb meaning "to blow a trumpet." Trumped up "false, concocted" first recorded 1728.
- trump (n.1)
- "playing card of a suit ranking above others," 1529, alteration of triumph, name of a card game. The verb meaning "surpass, beat" is attested from 1586.
- trumpery
- 1456, "deceit, trickery," from M.Fr. tromperie (14c.), from tromper "to deceive," of uncertain origin. Spelling influenced by trump (v.). Meaning "showy but worthless finery" is first recorded 1610.
- trumpet (n.)
- c.1300, from O.Fr. trompette "trumpet," dim. of trompe (see trump (n.2)). The verb is recorded from 1530; fig. sense of "to proclaim, extol" is attested from 1581.
- trump (n.2)
- "trumpet," c.1300, from O.Fr. trompe "long, tube-like musical wind instrument" (12c.), cognate with Prov. tromba, It. tromba, all probably from a Gmc. source (cf. O.H.G. trumpa and O.N. trumba "trumpet"), of imitative origin.
- ruff (n.)
- "kind of large collar, stiffly starched, worn in 17c.," 1523, originally in ref. to sleeves (of collars, from 1555), probably a shortened form of ruffle. Card-playing sense is a separate word, from a former game of that name (1589), from M.Fr. roffle, earlier romfle (1414), from It. ronfa, perhaps a corruption of trionfo "triumph" (from Fr., cf. trump). The game was in vogue c.1590-1630.
- trunk
- 1462, "box, case," from O.Fr. tronc "alms box in a church" (12c.), also "trunk of a tree, trunk of the human body," from L. truncus, originally "mutilated, cut off." The meaning "box, case" is likely to be from the notion of the body as the "case" of the organs. Eng. acquired the other two senses of the O.Fr. word later; sense of "main stem of a tree" dates from 1490; that of "torso of a human body" from 1494. The sense of "luggage compartment of a motor vehicle" is from 1930. The use in reference to an elephant's snout is from 1565, probably from confusion with trump (short for trumpet). Railroad trunk line is attested from 1843; telephone version is from 1889.
- Jew (n.)
- c.1175 (in plural, giwis), from Anglo-Fr. iuw, from O.Fr. giu, from L. Judaeum (nom. Judaeus), from Gk. Ioudaios, from Aramaic jehudhai (Heb. y'hudi "Jew," from Y'hudah "Judah," lit. "celebrated," name of Jacob's fourth son and of the tribe descended from him. Replaced O.E. Iudeas "the Jews." Originally, "Hebrew of the kingdom of Judah." Jews' harp "simple mouth harp" is from 1584, earlier Jews' trump (1545); the connection with Jewishness is obscure. Jew-baiting first recorded 1853, in ref. to Ger. Judenhetze. In uneducated times, inexplicable ancient artifacts were credited to Jews, based on the biblical chronology of history: e.g. Jews' money (1577) "Roman coins found in England." In Greece, after Christianity had erased the memory of classical glory, ruins of pagan temples were called "Jews' castles."