An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Trift

by Friedrich Kluge

Trift, f., ‘right of pasturage, common,’ from MidHG. trift, f., ‘pasture,’ lit. ‘place to which something is driven’; not recorded in OHG. Trift (as in the case of Acker) is a relic of the speech of primit. nomad life. MidHG. trift also signifies (as a derivative of the root of treiben) ‘herd, drove, floating (of wood), actions, mode of life’; comp. E. drift and drove.