Troll

How to spell troll

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce troll

What does troll mean?

1. nounAn ugly giant or dwarf of Scandinavian folklore, often said to lurk under bridges or in caves.
2. nounA person who posts deliberately offensive or inflammatory messages online to provoke reactions.
3. verbTo post inflammatory remarks online with the aim of upsetting people or sparking arguments.
4. verbTo fish by drawing a baited line slowly through the water behind a moving boat.

Troll in a sentence

• noun

  The fairy tale described a hideous troll guarding the stone bridge.

• noun

  The moderator banned the troll who kept insulting other members.

• verb

  He likes to troll rival fans on social media before every big match.

• verb

  They like to troll for mackerel along the rocky coastline at dawn.

• noun

  The museum exhibit explained how each troll in Norse legend feared sunlight.

• noun

  Every controversial article seems to attract at least one angry troll in the comments.

Where does troll come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

This little word actually braids together two separate threads that happen to look identical. The mythological sense, the lumbering giant or malevolent dwarf of folklore, comes from the Old Norse troll, meaning a giant, monster, or fiend, a creature of Scandinavian legend that lurked under bridges and in mountains; it entered English mainly in the nineteenth century as Norse myths became popular reading. The verb sense, by contrast, comes from the Old French troller, meaning to wander about or to ramble in search of game, which English borrowed in the late Middle Ages. From that wandering idea grew the angling sense, to troll a line, meaning to draw a baited hook slowly through the water hoping a fish will strike. The modern internet sense is a clever pun on both: the online troll trails provocative bait to hook angry replies, while also echoing the ugly monster under the bridge. Because the two histories collided so neatly, the single spelling now carries all these meanings, and the double-l ending (which mirrors roll and stroll) is the only real spelling point to remember.

How the word is built

• troll (a single root; the creature sense from Old Norse troll 'giant, demon', the verb sense from Old French troller 'to wander, ramble')