1
Stage 1 of 3
trekker
Dutch · medieval
"a pull, a lever"
from 'trekken', to pull or draw, used for any pull-lever such as a drawer-pull or bell-pull
2
Stage 2 of 3
tricker
English · early 1600s
"the lever of a gunlock"
anglicized spelling adopted for the lever of a gunlock
3
Stage 3 of 3
trigger
English · mid-1700s onward
"a device that sets off a mechanism, or anything that sets off a reaction"
spelling shifted closer to the Dutch original; sense broadened figuratively
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