A Trip Was a Light Step Before It Was a Journey
A trip is a journey, a stumble, or a light step. The last sense is the oldest.
A trip is a journey, a stumble, or a light quick step. The stepping sense came first: Old French *triper* meant to strike with the feet or dance, which gives *tripping lightly* and the folk dance called *tripping the light fantastic*. From dancing came stumbling, and from stumbling came a short journey — a sequence that runs from grace to clumsiness to travel. The drug sense, from the 1950s, borrows the idea of a journey taken without moving.
- A journey. *A day trip.*
- A stumble. *A trip on the step.*
- A light step. *Tripping along.*
- A hallucinogenic experience. *A trip.*
- Old French — *triper*, to dance. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | trip | A trip. |
| Verb | trip | Tripping. |
| Past | tripped | Tripped. |
| Adjective | tripping | Tripping. |
| Compound | round trip | A round trip. |
- A trip to the coast.Journey.
- She tripped on the kerb.Stumble.
- Tripping lightly along.Stepping.
How the senses developed
- 1300s — to step lightly or dance
- 1400s — to cause someone to stumble
- 1600s — a short journey or excursion
- 1950s — a hallucinogenic experience
- Each sense grew out of the one before
Old French *triper*, to strike with the feet or dance, of Germanic origin.
Which sense of trip is oldest?
The light step or dance. Stumbling came next, and the journey sense only in the 1600s.
What does tripping the light fantastic mean?
Dancing. The phrase comes from Milton and uses the original stepping sense.