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Original · left

Trunk (tree or elephant)

The thick primary wooden stem of a mature tree, or an elephant's elongated prehensile nose.

First in use: ancient / pre-modern
Duplicate · right

Trunk (version control)

The authoritative, central, stable branch of code in version control systems, from which subsidiary branches split off.

First in use: the 1980s

Trunk / Trunk (tree or elephant) / Trunk (version control)

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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

Tree trunks vs. mainline.

Which meaning of Trunk is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Trunk (tree or elephant) came first (ancient / pre-modern). Trunk (version control) arrived in the 1980s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Trunk (tree or elephant)Trunk (version control)
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

Share-of-attention line loads here.

The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · ancient / pre-modern

Trunk (tree or elephant)

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Duplicate · the 1980s

Trunk (version control)

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More duplicated terms

Programming & software