trinket
/ˈtɹɪŋkɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.70 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An item used in a religious rite (also, a religious rite, belief, etc.) regarded as superfluous or trivial.
Derogatory; Obsolete
verb
Often followed by out: to adorn (someone or something) with trinkets (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1).
Transitive verb
noun
A narrow or small watercourse.
Example Sentences
- "That little trinket around her neck must have cost a bundle."
- "[H]e's an old man, / A good old man, they ſay too: I dare ſvveare / Full many a yeare ago, he left theſe gambols: / Here, take your trinkets."
- "Hence is the Fair vvith Ornaments ſupply'd, / Hence ſprung the glitt'ring Implements of Pride; / Each Trinket that adorns the modern Dame, / Firſt to theſe little Artiſts ovv'd its Frame."
- "Glumdalclitch vvrapped it [the broken finger from a statue] up in a Handkerchief; and carried it home in her Pocket to keep among other Trinkets, of vvhich the Girl vvas very fond, as Children at her Age uſually are."
- "This [the hawksbill turtle] is the animal that ſupplies the tortoiſe-ſhell, of vvhich ſuch a variety of beautiful trinkets are made."
- "James [II] ordered an estimate to be made of the cost of such a procession, and found that it would amount to about half as much as he proposed to expend in covering his wife [Mary of Modena] with trinkets. He accordingly determined to be profuse where he ought to have been frugal, and niggardly where he might pardonably have been profuse. More than one hundred thousand pounds were laid out in dressing the queen, and the procession from the Tower was omitted."
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈtɹɪŋkɪt/
- British English: /ˈtɹɪŋkɪt/