Etymology: < Middle Dutch trîse, trijs, Dutch trijs windlass, pulley, hoisting-block = Middle Low German trîsse , trîtse tackle, hoisting-rope (whence also Danish tridse , trisse , Swedish trissa sheave, pulley, German trieze crane, pulley). Compare trice v.

Etymology: Found first in phrase at a trice , apparently originally ‘at one pull or tug, at one effort’, trice being apparently verbal noun < trice v.; soon passing into the sense ‘at once, immediately, in a moment, instantly’, whence in later use the simple noun comes to be equal to ‘instant, moment’. Compare the sense-development of French †à un coup, à coup, †tout à un coup, tout d'un coup, originally ‘at a stroke’, hence ‘at once, immediately, instantly’. The later phrase in a trice recalls the Spanish en un tris instantly, originally ‘in a crack’ (crack n. 2), < tris the noise made by cracking or breaking of glass; but the English phrase ‘at a trice’ appears too early for Spanish influence. Rather are the English, French, and Spanish phrases parallels expressing suddenness of action.

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps a variant of, or transmission error for, trist n.²Alternatively, it has also been suggested that this word could show a transmission error for any of trist n.¹, trace n.¹ (compare sense 1b ‘course of action’ at that entry), or tryst n., but all of these appear less likely on semantic grounds (in view of the hunting context).

Etymology: < Middle Dutch trîsen, Dutch trijsen to hoist = Middle Low German trîssen, trîtsen, whence also Danish trisse, German triezen to hoist. Ulterior history obscure.