trench(2) (iou) and impredicative (iou)

trench(2) (iou)

trench verb. LME.
[In branch I from Old French trenchier (mod. trancher) cut, ult. from Latin truncare: see TRUNCATE verb. In branch II from or infl. by TRENCH noun.]
I.
verb trans. Cut (in pieces); divide or sever by cutting; make a cut in. LME.
Pope Trench the black earth a cubit long and wide.
b. Cut or carve in or into a material; make (a wound) in. rare. L16-E17.
Shakespeare Venus & Adonis The wide wound that the boar had trench'd In his soft flank.
verb trans. Cut (a channel) through a ridge or raised surface; cut through (a ridge etc.). E17.
A. Geikie In the..denudation of the country, deep valleys have been trenched through it. fig.: R. H. Horne Oft have I marked a deep awe trench his face.
II.
a. verb trans. Cut or dig a trench or trenches in (the ground); spec. (Agriculture & Horticulture) turn over the soil of (a field, Garden, etc.) by digging a series of adjoining trenches. M16.
b. verb intrans. Dig a trench or trenches. L18.
verb trans. Military. Surround or fortify with a trench. Also foll. by about, around. Now rare or obsolete. M16.
b. fig. = ENTRENCH 2. Chiefly as trenched ppl adjective. E17.
verb trans.
a. Divert (a river) by digging a trench. rare (Shakes.). Only in L16.
b. Drain (land) by means of open trenches. E19.
verb intrans. Foll. by on, upon: encroach; border closely, verge; have a bearing. Cf. ENTRENCH 5. arch. E17.
James Robertson This scheme..may seem to trench on the liberty of individuals. Disraeli Some unlucky jest, trenching on treason. C. M. Davies The opinions of this schoolwhere they trench most closely on orthodoxy.
verb intrans. Of land: extend, stretch. rare. Only in 18.

impredicative (iou)

impredicative adjective. M20.
[from IM-2 + PREDICATIVE adjective.]
Logic. Of a proposition, thing, etc.: not definable except in terms of a totality of which it is itself a part.

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