trinket

Meanings

Noun

• A small showy ornament or piece of jewelry
• A thing of little value; a trifle; a toy.
• A three-cornered sail formerly carried on a ship's foremast, probably on a lateen yard.
• A knife; a cutting tool.

Verb

• To give trinkets; to court favour.

Origin

• Old English trenket ("a sort of knife"), hence, probably, a toy knife worn as an ornament; probably from an Old French dialectal form of trenchier. Compare trench.