trunk
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trunk¹
- /tɹʌŋk/ UK
- /tɹʊŋk/ Northern England
- /tɹʌŋk/ US
- [t͡ʃɹʌŋk] US
- [tɹʌŋk] US
- /tɹɐnk/ Australia, New Zealand
- /tɹʊnk/ Northern England
- /tɾʌnk/ Scotland
- /tɾənk/ Wales
Rhymes with -ʌŋk
Where it comes from
From Middle English tronke, trunke, from Old French tronc (“alms box, tree trunk, headless body”), from Latin truncus (“a stock, lopped tree trunk”), from truncus (“cut off, maimed, mutilated”). For the verb, compare French tronquer, and see truncate. Doublet of truncus and tronk.
noun trunks
-
The usually single, more or less upright part of a tree, between the roots and the branches.
Similar: bole, tree trunk, stock
- The torso; especially, the human torso.
-
The conspicuously extended, mobile, nose-like organ of an animal such as a sengi, a tapir or especially an elephant. The trunks of various kinds of animals might be adapted to probing and sniffing, as in the sengis, or be partly prehensile, as in the tapir, or be a versatile prehensile organ for manipulation, feeding, drinking and fighting as in the elephant.
Similar: proboscis
- A large suitcase, chest, or similar receptacle for carrying or storing personal possessions, usually with a hinged, often domed lid, and handles at each end, so that generally it takes two persons to carry a full trunk. There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy. Mail bags, so I understand, are being put on board. Stewards, carrying cabin trunks, swarm in the corridors.
- A box or chest usually covered with leather, metal, or cloth, or sometimes made of leather, hide, or metal, for holding or transporting clothes or other goods. To lie, like pawns, lock'd up in chests and trunks
- The luggage storage compartment of a sedan/saloon-style car. I'm a stunt; ride in the car with some bump in the trunk.
- A storage compartment fitted behind the seat of a motorcycle.
- A major circuit between telephone switchboards or other switching equipment.
- A chute or conduit, or a watertight shaft connecting two or more decks.
- A long, large box, pipe, or conductor, made of plank or metal plates, for various uses, as for conveying air to a mine or to a furnace, water to a mill, grain to an elevator, etc.
- A long tube through which pellets of clay, peas, etc., are driven by the force of the breath. A peashooter He shot Sugar Plums at them out of a Trunk.
- A flume or sluice in which ores are separated from the slimes in which they are contained.
- In software projects under source control: the most current source tree, from which the latest unstable builds (so-called "trunk builds") are compiled.
- The main line or body of anything. the trunk of a vein or of an artery, as distinct from the branches
- A main line in a river, canal, railroad, or highway system.
- The part of a pilaster between the base and capital, corresponding to the shaft of a column.
- A large pipe forming the piston rod of a steam engine, of sufficient diameter to allow one end of the connecting rod to be attached to the crank, and the other end to pass within the pipe directly to the piston, thus making the engine more compact.
- Ellipsis of swimming trunks
verb trunks · trunking · trunked
- To lop off; to curtail; to truncate. Large streames of bloud out of the truncked stocke / Forth gushed, like fresh water streame from riuen rocke.
- To extract (ores) from the slimes in which they are contained, by means of a trunk.
- To provide simultaneous network access to multiple clients by sharing a set of circuits, carriers, channels, or frequencies.
Trunk²
Where it comes from
Borrowed from German Trunk, also a Jewish Ashkenazi surname.
proper noun Trunks
- A surname from German.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: tree trunk, bole, proboscis, torso, boot, body, luggage compartment, log, stump, core, tree, canteen, trough, elephant, basket, nose
Translations
Every language
noun telecommunications line
| 日本語 | 中継回線 chūkei kaisen |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Anschlusskabel, Amtsleitung, Amt, Verbindungskabel, Hauptleitung, Bündelleitung |
| Ελληνικά | κόμβος kómvos |
| Română | trunchi |
| Русский | магистра́ль magistrálʹ, магистра́льная ли́ния magistrálʹnaja línija |
noun tree trunk
| Español | tronco, cepa |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 그루 geuru |
| 日本語 | 幹 miki |
| 中文 | 樹幹 /树干 shùgàn, 幹 /干 gàn |
| हिन्दी | तना tanā, स्कन्ध skandh |
| Português | tronco |
| Français | tronc |
| Deutsch | Stamm, Baumstamm |
| Italiano | tronco |
| Ελληνικά | κορμός kormós |
| Română | trunchi |
| Русский | ствол stvol |
| Tiếng Việt | thân cây |
| العربية | جِذْع jiḏʕ |
| עברית | גֶּזַע géza |
noun extended nasal organ of an elephant
| Español | trompa |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 코 |
| 日本語 | 鼻 hana |
| 中文 | 象鼻子 xiàng bízi, 鼻子 bízi, 象鼻 xiàngbí, 長鼻 /长鼻 chángbí |
| हिन्दी | सूंड sūṇḍ |
| Kiswahili | mkonga |
| Português | tromba |
| Français | trompe |
| Deutsch | Rüssel |
| Italiano | proboscide |
| Ελληνικά | προβοσκίδα provoskída |
| Română | trompă |
| Русский | хо́бот xóbot |
| Tiếng Việt | vòi voi, vòi |
| العربية | خُرْطُوم ḵurṭūm |
| עברית | חֵדֶק khédek |
noun large suitcase or chest
| Español | baúl |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 트렁크 teureongkeu |
| 日本語 | 行李 kōri, 長持 nagamochi, トランク toranku |
| 中文 | 行李箱 xínglǐxiāng |
| हिन्दी | सन्दूक़ sandūq, पेटी peṭī |
| Português | baú |
| Français | malle, coffre |
| Deutsch | Koffer, Truhe, Schrankkoffer, Schiffskoffer, Kleiderkoffer, Überseekoffer |
| Italiano | baule, cofano |
| Ελληνικά | μπαούλο baoúlo, σεντούκι sentoúki, κασέλα kaséla |
| Română | cufăr |
| Русский | сунду́к sundúk, кофр kofr, бау́л baúl |
| Tiếng Việt | hành lý |
| العربية | صَنْدُوق ṣandūq, صُنْدُوق ṣundūq |
noun luggage storage compartment of a sedan/saloon style car
| Español | baúl, cajuela, joroba, maleta, maletera, maletero |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 트렁크 teureongkeu |
| 日本語 | トランク toranku |
| 中文 | 後備箱 /后备箱 hòubèixiāng, 後車廂 /后车厢 hòuchēxiāng |
| हिन्दी | ट्रंक ṭraṅk |
| Kiswahili | buti |
| Português | porta-malas, porta-bagagem, mala, bagageiro |
| Français | coffre (de voiture), valise, malle |
| Deutsch | Kofferraum, Gepäckraum |
| Italiano | baule, bagagliaio |
| Ελληνικά | πορτμπαγκάζ portmpagkáz, αποσκευές aposkevés |
| Română | portbagaj |
| Русский | бага́жник bagážnik |
| Tiếng Việt | cốp |
| العربية | حَقِيبَة أَمْتِعَة ḥaqībat ʔamtiʕa, صُنْدُوقُ السَّيَّارَةِ ṣundūqu s-sayyārati |
| עברית | תָּא מִטְעָן ta mit'án |
Talk about this word "trunk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/trunk. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. trunk. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/trunk "trunk." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/trunk.
Cite this
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@misc{trunk_2026,
title = {trunk},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/trunk},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
