Old English tredan "to tread, step on, trample; traverse, pass over" (class V strong verb; past tense træd, past participle treden), from Proto-Germanic *tred- (cognates: Old Saxon tredan, Old Frisian treda, Middle Dutch treden, Old High German tretan, German treten, Gothic trudan, Old Norse troða), from PIE *der- (1) "assumed base of roots meaning 'to run, walk, step'" [Watkins]. Related: Trod; treading.

early 13c., "a step or stepping, pressure with the foot," from tread, v.; in reference to automobile tires, it is recorded from 1906.