Other forms: trolls, trolling, trolled
A troll is someone who posts nasty or stupid things online on purpose, to get a rise out of people. The comment under a news story that exists only to start a fight, the reply calling a stranger an idiot, the account whose whole job is winding people up.
Troll is a verb too — he was trolling, she got trolled — and its mildest use is almost friendly, since 'he is just trolling you' can mean he is joking to provoke rather than attacking. Don't feed the trolls is the old rule of the internet: reply and you have paid them. Long before any of that, a troll was a creature out of Scandinavian folklore, ugly and slow, living in the mountains or under a bridge, the thing the three billy goats had to get past. There is a fishing sense as well: to troll is to drag a baited line behind a moving boat. And a patent troll is a company that buys up patents purely to sue people with them.
1nountrollA person who posts insulting or provoking things online in order to upset others.
“The thread was perfectly civil until a troll turned up.”
synonyms: provocateur, agitator
2verbprovokeTo post things online meant to provoke or upset someone.
“He spent the whole evening trolling football fans.”
3nounogreA creature of Scandinavian folklore, ugly and slow, living in the hills or under a bridge.
“In the story the troll under the bridge wants to eat all three goats.”
4verbfishTo fish by dragging a baited line behind a moving boat.
“They trolled slowly along the edge of the reef all afternoon.”
troll is a provocative internet user.
The verb behind the internet troll is a wandering word. Middle English trollen meant 'to go about, wander, roll, turn', probably from Old French troller, a hunting term for roaming about looking for game; further back sit Middle High German trollen, 'to walk with short strides', and Proto-Germanic *truzlōną, 'to lumber'. That is where the fishing sense comes from — a baited line dragged about behind a boat until something bites — and it describes the modern troll rather well.
Proto-Germanic
*truzlōną — to lumber
Middle High German
trollen — to stroll, walk with short strides
Old French
troller — to run here and there; to walk aimlessly, ramble, stroll; (hunting) to wander about looking for game
Middle English
trollen — to go about, wander; to move (something) to and fro, rock; to roll; to turn
English, today
troll
Built from
The verb is derived from Middle English trollen (“to go about, wander; to move (something) to and fro, rock; to roll; to turn”)trolle, trowl, trul, trull, trulle, of unknown origin; perhaps in part from Old French troller (“to run here and there; to walk aimlessly, ramble, stroll; (hunting) to wander about looking for game”) (modern French troller); further etymology uncertain, yet probably from or related to Middle High German trollen (“to stroll, walk with short strides”) (modern German trollen (“to move slowly, trundle; to push off, toddle off”)), ultimately from Proto-Germanic truzlōną (“to lumber”), which is probably related to trudaną (“to step on, tread”) (see further at etymology 1). a doublet of trull. Verb fish by trailing (“to fish using a line and bait or lures trailed behind a boat”) is possibly influenced by trail and/or trawl. The noun is probably derived from the verb. Noun internet troll (“person who makes or posts inflammatory or insincere statements in an attempt to lure others into combative argument”) is possibly influenced by troll (etymology 1).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA