Etymology From Middle English trayne (“train”), from Old French train (“a delay, a drawing out”), from traïner (“to pull out, to draw”), from Vulgar Latin *traginō, from *tragō, from Latin trahō (“to pull, to draw”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tregʰ- (“to pull, draw, drag”). The verb was derived from the noun in Middle English. For the meaning to teach compare typologically Russian ната́скивать (natáskivatʹ) (akin to тащи́ть (taščítʹ)).
The elongated back portion of a dress or skirt (or an ornamental piece of material added to similar effect), which drags along the ground.
Unfortunately, the leading bridesmaid stepped on the bride's train as they were walking down the aisle.
They called each other by their Christian name, were always arm in arm when they walked, pinned up each other's train for the dance, and were not to be divided in the set [...].1803 (date written), [Jane Austen], Northanger Abbey; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:
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He was generally seen trooping like a colt at his mother's heels, equipped in a pair of his father's cast-off galligaskins, which he had much ado to hold up with one hand, as a lady does her train in bad weather.1819, Washington Irving, The Sketch Book, Rip Van Winkle:
Lace sleeves, a demure neckline, a full skirt and a relatively modest train.2011 April 20, Imogen Fox, The Guardian:
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A trail or line of something, especially gunpowder.
[E]mancipation is put into such a train that in a few years there will be no slaves Northward of Maryland.1785, Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Richard Price:
A party was sent to search, and there they found all the powder ready prepared, and, moreover, a man with a lantern, one Guy Fawkes, who had undertaken to be the one to set fire to the train of gunpowder, hoping to escape before the explosion.1873, Charlotte Mary Yonge, Aunt Charlotte's Stories of English History for the little ones:
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The tail of a bird.
Let frantike Talbot triumph for a while, And like a Peacock ſweepe along his tayle, Wee’le pull his Plumes, and take away his Trayne, If Dolphin and the reſt will be but rul’d.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 108, column 2:
The burning evening sun lighted with mellow gold the coats of the fierce little tiger-kittens — orange silk with stripes of black velvet — the broken amethysts and ruined emeralds of the poor bird's train cruelly scattered over the trampled grass1894, Sir Edwin Arnold, Wandering Words, page 260:
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Fawn and pearl of the lyre-bird's train, / Sheen of the bronze-wing, blue of the crane; / Cream of the plover, grey of the dove; / These are the hues of the land I love!1917, William Henry Fitchett, Australia in the making, page xii:
Before the Spanish Conquest, the long, slender, green plumes of the male bird's train adorned the headgear of Aztec and Mayan kings and chieftains, as one may clearly see in modern restorations of ancient scenes.1945, Nature Magazine, page 299:
Poetic The elongated body or form of something narrow and winding, such as the course of a river or the body of a snake.
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Astronomy, Natural sciences A transient trail of glowing ions behind a large meteor as it falls through the atmosphere or accompanying a comet as it nears the sun; tail.
Finally, all men saw that astronomical knowledge lied not, and they awaited the comet. Its approach was not, at first, seemingly rapid; nor was its appearance of very unusual character. It was of a dull red, and had little perceptible train.1839, Edgar Allan Poe, The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion:
It sometimes happens that the train is directed towards the sun, or makes a certain angle with the line joining the head and the sun; it was then called by the ancient astronomers the beard of the comet.1877, Amédée Guillemin, James Glaisher, The World of Comets, page 200:
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...the comet expands, its vapours are developed and escape in jets towards the radiant star; then we see them driven back on each side of the head and the caudal train commencing.2014, Camille Flammarion, Popular Astronomy, →ISBN, page 515:
A group of people following an important figure such as a king or noble; a retinue, a group of retainers.
Sir, I invite your Highness and your train / To my poor cell, where you shall take your rest /For this one night1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
The imperial train arrived on November 22 at Te-chou, a city in western Shantung along the border of Chihli.1979, Silas H. L. Wu, Passage to Power: Kʻang-hsi and His Heir Apparent, 1661-1722, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 78:
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Grace was glad the citizenry did not know Katherine Gordon was in the king’s train, but she was beginning to understand Henry’s motive for including the pretender’s wife.2009, Anne Easter Smith, The King's Grace:
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A group of animals, vehicles, or people that follow one another in a line, such as a wagon train; a caravan or procession.
Our party formed a train at the funeral parlor before departing for the burial.
Theſe are the cruel pirates of Argier, That damned train, the ſcum of Affrica, […]c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:
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Government, Military, Politics, War The men and vehicles following an army, which carry artillery and other equipment for battle or siege.
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A sequence of events or ideas which are interconnected; a course or procedure of something.
A man may be absorbed in the deepest thought, and his brow will remain smooth until he encounters some obstacle in his train of reasoning, or is interrupted by some disturbance, and then a frown passes like a shadow over his brow.1872, Charles Darwin, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals:
Failure to acknowledge an A.T.C. warning or excessive speed starts the same train of events until correction is made.1960 November, P. Ransome=Wallis, “Modern motive power of the German Federal Railway: Part Three”, in Trains Illustrated, page 679:
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"Where was I?" he asked several times during the lunch, losing his train of thought.2012 June 18, Rory Carroll, The Guardian:
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A set of things, events, or circumstances that follow after or as a consequence; aftermath, wake.
Thus the development of reason is accompanied by no inner blight or withering. It does not bring in its train loss of faith or weakening of sympathies.1907, Margaret McMillan, Labour and Childhood, page 120:
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Obsolete State of progress, status, situation (in phrases introduced by in a + adjective); also proper order or situation (introduced by in or in a alone).
in a fair / better / worse train
As we had been in a good train for several days past, I thought it not prudent to break with him, for little matters.1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXVI”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume IV, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC, page 139:
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I took care that my absence should neither be lamented by the poor nor the rich. I put every thing in a fair train of going on smoothly, and actually set out, with my steward, for my estate in Wales at dawning of the day.1779, Samuel Jackson Pratt, chapter 7, in Shenstone-Green: or, the New Paradise Lost, volume 1, London: R. Baldwin, page 46:
1787, George Washington, letter to Alexander Hamilton dated 10 July, 1787, in The Writings of George Washington, Boston: American Stationers’ Company, 1837, Volume 9, p. 260, When I refer you to the state of the counsels, which prevailed at the period you left this city, and add that they are now if possible in a worse train than ever, you will find but little ground on which the hope of a good establishment can be formed.
[…] every thing was now in a fairer train for Miss Crawford’s marrying Edmund than it had ever been before.1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter VI, in Mansfield Park: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 120-121:
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A set of interconnected mechanical parts which operate each other in sequence.
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A series of electrical pulses.
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A series of specified vehicles (originally tramcars in a mine as usual, later especially railway carriages) coupled together.
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A mechanical (originally steam-powered, now typically diesel or electrical) vehicle carrying a large number of passengers and freight along a designated track or path; a line of connected wagons considered overall as a mode of transport; (as uncountable noun) rail or road travel.
on a train
The train for Edinburgh will leave in 5 minutes.
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The train arrived at the station.
We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine.[…]As we reached the lodge we heard the whistle, and we backed up against one side of the platform as the train pulled up at the other.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
This winter we thought we'd go to Venice by train, for the adventure.2009 January 24, Hanif Kureishi, The Guardian:
A maglev train is akin to a surfboard riding a magnetic wave, says John Harding, formerly chief maglev scientist at America’s Federal Railroad Administration. […] A “moving platform” scheme proposed by Priestmangoode is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays.2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2023, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):
What steps do development engineers follow when adding new feature code? How do they support different software versions or release trains?2008, Michael Bushong, Cathy Gadecki, Aviva Garrett, JUNOS For Dummies, page 16:
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Lifestyle, Sex, SexualitySlang An act wherein series of men line up and then penetrate a person, especially as a form of gang rape.
“You want us to run a train on you?”2005, Violet Blue, Best Women's Erotica 2006: Volume 2001, link:
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Colloquial A specified topic, behavior, interest or inclination.
She doesn't come around any more, cuz she had a kid. She's on the family train now.
Etymology From Middle English trayne (“train”), from Old French train (“a delay, a drawing out”), from traïner (“to pull out, to draw”), from Vulgar Latin *traginō, from *tragō, from Latin trahō (“to pull, to draw”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tregʰ- (“to pull, draw, drag”). The verb was derived from the noun in Middle English. For the meaning to teach compare typologically Russian ната́скивать (natáskivatʹ) (akin to тащи́ть (taščítʹ)).
She trained seven hours a day to prepare for the Olympics.
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To teach and form (someone) by practice; to educate (someone).
You can't train a pig to write poetry.
The dispatches […] also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies. Having lectured the Arab world about democracy for years, its collusion in suppressing freedom was undeniable as protesters were met by weaponry and tear gas made in the west, employed by a military trained by westerners.2013 June 7, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 18:
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To feed data into an algorithm, usually based on a neural network, to create a machine learning model that can perform some task.
Machine learning
At least 10 lawsuits have been filed this year against A.I. companies, accusing them of training their systems on artists’ creative work without consent.2023 July 15, Sheera Frenkel, Stuart A. Thompson, “‘Not for Machines to Harvest’: Data Revolts Break Out Against A.I.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
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To improve one's fitness.
I trained with weights all winter.
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To proceed in sequence.
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To move (a gun) laterally so that it points in a different direction.
The assassin had trained his gun on the minister.
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Agriculture, Business, Horticulture, Lifestyle To encourage (a plant or branch) to grow in a particular direction or shape, usually by pruning and bending.
The vine had been trained over the pergola.
He trains the young branches to the right hand or to the left.1805, Francis Jeffrey, The Edinburgh Review:
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To transport (something) by train.
Colson was to truck the 'plane to Alice Springs, where it would be trained to Adelaide for repairs.1931, Ion L. Idriess, Lasseter's Last Ride, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 46:
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To travel by train.
As I trained westward across Europe, I read newspaper articles from the Sixties describing placards on the pub’s walls that explained to patrons how to order lager, brandy, and gin in Esperanto.2026 June 23, Katie Thornton, “Love Language: The undying dream of Esperanto”, in Harper's Magazine, →ISSN:
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Business, Mining To trace (a lode or any mineral appearance) to its head.
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Video games To create a trainer (cheat patch) for; to apply cheats to (a game).
I got a twix on the 128 version being fixed and trained by Mad Max at M2K BBS 208-587-7636 in Mountain Home Idaho. He fixes many games and puts them on his board. One of my sources for games and utils.2000, Sensei David O.E. Mohr - Lord Ronin from Q-Link, “WTB:"The Last V-8" C128 game -name correction”, in comp.sys.cbm (Usenet):
In the mid-1980s, demoparties were also copyparties, where the first so called hot releases of cracked and trained games changed hands. However, illegal software copying later disappeared […]2021, Mark J. P. Wolf, Encyclopedia of Video Games:
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Obsolete To draw (something) along; to trail, to drag (something).
[I]t pleaſed the grekes at that tyme to ſe yͤ body of Hector ſo trayned by Achilles⸝ bycauſe he was wont to be ſo redoubtab[l]e to them⸝ […]1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John Palsgrave], “Of the Verbe”, in Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse⸝ […], [London]: […] [Richard Pynson] fynnysshed by Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, 3rd boke, folio cxxii, verso; reprinted Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, October 1972, →OCLC:
In hollow cube / Training his devilish enginery.1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
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Obsolete, Of clothing To trail down or along the ground.
In the meane time, through that false Ladies traine / He was surprisd, and buried under beare, / Ne ever to his worke returnd againe [...].1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
Falconry, Hobbies, Hunting, LifestyleObsolete A live bird, handicapped or disabled in some way, provided for a young hawk to kill as training or enticement.
Etymology From Middle English trayne (“treachery”), from Anglo-Norman traine, Middle French traïne, from traïr (“to betray”).
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Obsolete To draw by persuasion, artifice, or the like; to attract by stratagem; to entice; to allure.
If but a dozen French / Were there in arms, they would be as a call / To train ten thousand English to their side.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
O, train me not, sweet mermaid, with thy note.c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
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O doe not goe, this feaſt (I'le gage my life) / Is but a plot to trayne you to your ruine, / Be rul'd, you ſha'not goe.c. 1626 or 1629–1633 (first performance), [John Ford], ’Tis Pitty Shee’s a Whore […], London: […] Nicholas Okes for Richard Collins, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act V, signature I2, verso:
Thou hast been trained from thy post by some deep guile — some well-devised stratagem – the cry of some distressed maiden has caught thine ear, or the laughful look of some merry one has taken thine eye.1825 June 22, [Walter Scott], Tales of the Crusaders. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or IV), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC:
Etymology From Dutch traan (“tear, drop”), from Middle Dutch trâen, from Old Dutch trān, from Proto-West Germanic *trahnu (“tear”). Compare German Träne (“tear”), Tran (“train oil”).