Past tense of tread; walked on, stepped on, or trampled something underfoot.
From Old English 'tredan' meaning 'to step' or 'to go', related to Old Norse 'troða'. The past tense 'trod' preserves an ancient strong verb conjugation pattern that has largely disappeared from modern English.
Trod is one of those wonderfully archaic-sounding past tenses that makes ordinary walking sound epic and purposeful. The word carries a sense of weight and deliberation that 'walked' simply cannot match, evoking images of pilgrims on sacred paths or soldiers on long marches.
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