tronk

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Afrikaans tronk, from Dutch tronk, from Portuguese tronco, from Latin truncus. Doublet of trunk.

Noun

tronk (plural tronks)

1. (South Africa) A prison.
   • 1824, William John Burchell, Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa:

     It must here be explained that the tronk, or jail, is the general receptacle, not only of convicted criminals, but of such Hottentots or slaves as are found, improperly or illegally wandering about the country […]

   • 1958, Isobel Rae, The strange story of Dr James Barry:

     The diary of another settler, who had been wrongfully imprisoned in the Tronk, and described the daily life there in no uncertain terms […]

   • 1985, Lawrence George Green, Maureen Barnes, The best of Lawrence Green

     It was built, as far as I can discover, because the Cape Argus rightly denounced the overcrowding of the old "tronk" on the waterfront.

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Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch tronk (“prison, dungeon, stocks”), from Portuguese tronco (“block, prison, dungeon”), from Latin truncus (“trunk”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /trɔŋk/

Noun

tronk (plural tronke)

1. prison

Descendants

• → English: tronk

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /trɔŋk/
• Hyphenation: tronk
• Rhymes: -ɔŋk

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch tronc (“trunk”), from Old French tronc (“trunk”), from Latin truncus (“trunk”).

Noun

tronk m (plural tronken, diminutive tronkje n)

1. (now dialectal) trunk, tree trunk

   Synonyms: boomstam, stam

2. (now dialectal) tree stump

   Synonyms: boomstronk, stronk

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Portuguese tronco (“block, prison, trunk”), from Latin truncus (“trunk”).

Noun

tronk m (plural tronken)

1. (obsolete, Dutch East Indies, Cape Peninsula) prison, dungeon, stocks

Descendants

• Afrikaans: tronk
  • → English: tronk