I. tren·cher ˈtrenchə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English trencher, trenchour knife, wooden platter on which meat was cut up, trencher, from Middle French trencheoir, trenchoir, from trenchier to cut — more at trench
1.
a. : a usually wooden platter or tray for serving food
balancing a trencher of roast fowl upon his head — Evelyn R. Sickels
wooden trenchers were replaced when dishes of pottery and porcelain came into general use — J.E.Gloag
b. archaic : a flat board or wooden disk
when swords are blunted … and spears are tipped with trenchers of wood — Sir Walter Scott
c. or trencher cap : mortarboard 2
2. archaic : a source of nourishment : meal , table
brought our children to live upon others' trenchers — Lewis Stucley
II. trencher adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from trencher, n.
1. : of or relating to a trencher or to the eating of meals
trencher knife
trencher companion
2. archaic : parasitic , sycophantic
some trencher knight — Shakespeare
III. trench·er noun
( -s )
Etymology: trench (II) + -er
: one that digs trenches