trite

See also: Trite and трите

English

WOTD – 19 November 2015

Pronunciation

• enPR: trīt, IPA^(key): /tɹaɪt/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -aɪt

Etymology 1

From Latin trītus "worn out," a form of the verb terō (“I wear away, wear out”).

Adjective

trite (comparative triter, superlative tritest)

1. Often in reference to a word or phrase: used so many times that it is commonplace, or no longer interesting or effective; worn out, hackneyed.
   • 1897, W. B. Kimberly, History of West Australia : A Narrative of Her Past together with Biographies of Her Leading Men:

     It is a trite saying in a young country that anyone starting out in life with the determination to become wealthy will have his wish gratified.

   • 1994, Anthony Bergin, “The High Seas Regime – Pacific Trends and Developments”, in James Crawford, Donald R. Rothwell, editors, The Law of the Sea in the Asian Pacific Region: Developments and Prospects, Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, →ISBN, page 183:

     It is trite history – and trite law – to say that the law of the sea since that time [World War II] reflects a history of coastal State expansion.

   • 2007, Danielle Corsetto, Girls with Slingshots: 267‎^[1]:

     McPedro the cactus: How to woo a woman! On yehr fahrst date, don’t bring her cut flowers! That’s inhumane! And trite!

2. (law) So well established as to be beyond debate: trite law.
   • 2017, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Taucar v Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, 2017 ONSC 2604:

     It is trite to say that the mere fact that a decision does not favour the applicant or that the applicant disagrees with the decision does not establish that the decision is tainted with bias.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:hackneyed

Derived terms

• trite law

 

Translations

used so many times that it is commonplace, or no longer interesting or effective — see also hackneyed,‎ worn-out

• Bulgarian: изтъркан (bg) (iztǎrkan), банален (bg) (banalen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 陳腐／陈腐 (zh) (chénfǔ), 平凡 (zh) (píngfán)

• Czech: banální (cs), otřelý, otřepaný m, vyčpělý m
• Dutch: afgezaagd (nl), banaal (nl), versleten (nl)
• Finnish: banaali (fi), kulunut (fi), lattea (fi)
• French: banal (fr), éculé (fr), trivial (fr)
• German: abgedroschen (de), banal (de), nichtssagend (de), platt (de)
• Greek: κοινότοπος (el) m (koinótopos), τετριμμένος (el) m (tetrimménos)
• Hungarian: banális (hu), elcsépelt (hu), elkoptatott (hu)
• Ido: triviala (io)
• Irish: seanchaite
• Japanese: ありふれた (arifureta), 陳腐な (ja) (ちんぷな, chinpu-na)
• Manx: ceaut, shenn-cheaut
• Norwegian: trivielt
• Portuguese: banal (pt), gasto (pt)
• Russian: бана́льный (ru) (banálʹnyj), изби́тый (ru) (izbítyj), шабло́нный (ru) (šablónnyj), зата́сканный (ru) (zatáskannyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: lom
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ба̀на̄лан, излизан, о̀тр̄ца̄н

  Roman: bànālan (sh), izlizan (sh), òtr̄cān (sh)

• Slovene: zguljen
• Spanish: estereotipado (es) m, manido (es), tópico (es) m, trillado (es), trivial (es)
• Swedish: banal (sv), sliten (sv), trivial (sv), utnött (sv), utsliten (sv)
• Ukrainian: банальний (uk) m (banalʹnyj), стоптаний m (stoptanyj), заїжджений m (zajiždženyj)

See also

• cliché

Etymology 2

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

trite (plural trites)

1. A denomination of coinage in ancient Greece equivalent to one third of a stater.

Translations

denomination of ancient Greek coinage

Anagrams

• tetri, titer, titre

Italian

Adjective

trite

1. feminine plural of trito

Anagrams

• retti, ritte, tetri

Latin

Participle

trīte

1. vocative masculine singular of trītus

References

• “trite”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• trite in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Tocharian B

Etymology

Compare Tocharian A trit

Adjective

trite

1. third