Trunk
late Middle English: from Old French tronc, from Latin truncus .
wiktionary
From Middle English tronke, trunke, borrowed from Old French tronc(“alms box, tree trunk, headless body”), from Latin truncus(“a stock, lopped tree trunk”), from truncus(“cut off, maimed, mutilated”). For the verb, compare French tronquer, and see truncate. Doublet of truncus and tronk.
etymonline
trunk (n.1)
mid-15c., "box, case," from Old French tronc "alms box in a church," also "trunk of a tree, trunk of the human body, wooden block" (12c.), from Latin truncus "trunk of a tree, trunk of the body," of uncertain origin, probably originally "mutilated, cut off," and perhaps from PIE root *tere- (2) "cross over, pass through, overcome."
The meaning "box, case" is likely to be from the notion of the body as the "case" of the organs. English acquired the "main stem of a tree" and "torso of the body" senses from Old French in late 15c. The sense of "luggage compartment of a motor vehicle" is from 1930. Railroad trunk line is attested from 1843; telephone version is from 1889.
trunk (n.2)
"elephant's snout," 1560s, apparently from trunk (n.1), perhaps from confusion with trump (n.2), short for trumpet.
