trapeze

[tra-peez or, especially Brit., truh-] Origin

tra·peze

[tra-peez or, especially Brit., truh-]
noun
1.
an apparatus, used in gymnastics and acrobatics, consisting of a short horizontal bar attached to the ends of two suspended ropes.
2.
(on a small sailboat) a device by which a crew member can be suspended almost completely outboard while hiking.

Origin:
1860–65; < French, special use of trapèze trapezium
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Trapeze is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
Collins
World English Dictionary
trapeze (trəˈpiːz)
 
n
1.  a free-swinging bar attached to two ropes, used by circus acrobats, etc
2.  a sling like a bosun's chair at one end of a line attached to the masthead of a light racing sailing boat, used in sitting out
 
[C19: from French trapèze, from New Latin; see trapezium]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

trapeze
1861, from Fr. trapèze, from L.L. trapezium (see trapezium), probably because the crossbar, the ropes and the ceiling formed a trapezium.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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