An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/treten

by Friedrich Kluge

treten, verb, ‘to tread, proceed, step,’ from the equivalent Middle High German trëten, Old High German trëtan; a common Teutonic strong verb; corresponding to Old Saxon and Anglo-Saxon trëdan, English to tread, Dutch treden, Gothic trudan. Compare also Tritt, Trott, and Trotte. In the non-Teutonic languages no Aryan root dre-t is found, though Greek δρόμος, ‘course,’ Sanscrit root dram, ‘to run’ (Anglo-Saxon tręm, ‘step’), and the root of the cognates of trampeln seem to be originally connected with it.