Trump
early 16th century: alteration of triumph, once used in card games in the same sense.
wiktionary
Possibly from French triomphe(“triumph”) or Old French triumphe.
From Middle English trumpe, trompe(“trumpet”) from Old French trompe(“horn, trump, trumpet”), from Frankish *trumpa, *trumba(“trumpet”), from a common Germanic word of imitative origin.
Akin to Old High German trumpa, trumba(“horn, trumpet”), Middle Dutch tromme(“drum”), Middle Low German trumme(“drum”). More at trumpet, drum.
Shortening of Jew's-trump, which may be from French jeu-trump, jeu tromp, jeu trompe (a trump, or toy, to play with).
etymonline
trump (n.1)
"playing card of a suit ranking above others," 1520s, alteration of triumph (n.), which also was the name of a card game.
trump (n.2)
"trumpet," c. 1300, from Old French trompe "long, tube-like musical wind instrument" (12c.), cognate with Provençal tromba, Italian tromba, all probably from a Germanic source (compare Old High German trumpa, Old Norse trumba "trumpet"), of imitative origin.
trump (v.1)
"surpass, beat," 1580s, from trump (n.). Related: Trumped; trumping.
trump (v.2)
"fabricate, devise," 1690s, from trump "deceive, cheat" (1510s), from Middle English trumpen (late 14c.), from Old French tromper "to deceive," of uncertain origin. Apparently from se tromper de "to mock," from Old French tromper "to blow a trumpet." Brachet explains this as "to play the horn, alluding to quacks and mountebanks, who attracted the public by blowing a horn, and then cheated them into buying ...." The Hindley Old French dictionary has baillier la trompe "blow the trumpet" as "act the fool," and Donkin connects it rather to trombe "waterspout," on the notion of turning (someone) around. Connection with triumph also has been proposed. Related: Trumped; trumping. Trumped up "false, concocted" first recorded 1728.
