Tread

How to spell tread

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce tread

What does tread mean?

1. verbTo walk or step, placing the feet down in a deliberate way.
2. nounThe grooved surface of a tyre or sole, or the horizontal part of a step that the foot rests on.

Tread in a sentence

• verb

  Hikers should tread carefully on the loose gravel near the cliff edge.

• noun

  The mechanic measured the tread on each tyre before passing the car.

• verb

  Please tread quietly past the nursery so the baby stays asleep.

• noun

  Worn tread on his boots made the icy path dangerous.

Where does tread come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a thoroughly native English word, descending from the Old English verb tredan, which meant 'to step on' or 'to walk'. It traces back to a Proto-Germanic root tredan, which is also the ancestor of the Dutch treden and the German treten, both meaning 'to step'. For centuries the word kept its plain physical sense of placing one's foot down, and over time it grew the noun meanings we still use, such as the flat part of a stair where the foot rests and the patterned surface of a tyre or boot sole that grips the ground. The slightly tricky part of the spelling is the 'ea' vowel, which sounds like a short 'e' rather than a long one, exactly as it does in its close relatives bread and dread. Because the word is so old and so common, its irregular past form 'trod' has survived alongside it, a reminder of its deep Germanic roots.

How the word is built

• tread (from Old English tredan: to step or walk)