- tread (v.)
- Old English tredan (class V strong verb; past tense træd, past participle treden), from Proto-Germanic *tredanan (cf. Old Frisian treda, Middle Dutch treden, Old High German tretan, German treten, Gothic trudan, Old Norse troða).
- tread (n.)
- early 13c., from tread (v.); in reference to automobile tires, it is recorded from 1906.