trier

Meaning

1. to sort, to sort out
2. to grade; to calibrate

Concepts

sort

separate

classify

sort out

pick

select

choose

divide

segregate

split

winnow

assort

cull

reduce to order

store

elect

single out

sift through

peek

separate out

triage

class

part

screen

screen out

sieve

pick out

sequence

excrete <extrete>

seclude

sequester

disperse

dissipate

Pronounced as (IPA)

/tʁi.je/

Etymology

From Middle French trier, from Old French trier (“to choose, pick out or separate from others, sift, cull”), of uncertain origin.
# Widely assumed to be derived from Late Latin trītāre (“to grind”), from Latin trītus, the past participle of terō, terere, with the semantic shift seemingly originating from the Latin set phrase Latin granum terere (“to beat the corn from the chaff”), which can also be found in modern French as trier le grain. The semantic shift would be proved by the Italian cognate tritare (“to grind”), which also features “to sort” as an archaic sense. The cognates Occitan triar (“to pick out, choose from among others”) and Catalan triar (“to pick, choose”), who cannot reflect trītāre (which would have yielded *tridar) must then be considered borrowings from French.
# Alternatively, from a Gallo-Romance hypothetical *trīō, trīāre, which would make Occitan triar and Catalan triar inherited cognates instead of borrowings. The archaic sense of Italian tritare whould thus be due to influence of the French word. Ultimately could be an outcome of a metathetic alteration Vulgar Latin *tīrāre (“to pull”), undergoing a pretty straightforward semantical shift. In this case the word would be doublet of tirer (“to pull”).