trapping

Origin

From Middle English trappyng, trappynge, from trap, trappe (“personal belongings, owndom, household goods”) (compare Middle English trappen (“to deck, caparison”)), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Anglo-Norman, from Medieval Latin trapus (“cloth”), from Frankish *traba, *trapa (“cloth, thread, rag”), from Proto-Germanic *trabō, *trafą, *trēb (“fringe, rags”), from Proto-Indo-European *drāp-, *drāb- (“rag”). Akin to Old High German traba (“fringe, tatters, thread”), Old Norse traf (“headscarf”). Compare Spanish trapo (“rag”).