To cut away; to reduce; to remove edges
To add decorative edging; to ornament
From Old English trymman — to make firm, to put in order, to set in proper condition. The original sense was neither cutting nor decorating but setting right: a word for correctness, for adjustment, for making something what it ought to be.
The word then diverged across two domains of labor. In one, “proper condition” meant reduction: a budget properly set is a budget cut, a hedge properly set is a hedge trimmed to regulation height, a body properly set is a body made smaller. In the other, “proper condition” meant addition: a Christmas tree properly set is a Christmas tree decorated, a dress properly finished is a dress trimmed with velvet, a room properly prepared is a room trimmed for the occasion.
The word reveals a double standard about what maintenance requires. Trim the budget: subtract. Trim the tree: add. The difference is not linguistic drift — it is a record of what kinds of things are considered complete by making them less, and what kinds of things are considered complete by making them more.
Notice whose labor produces each kind of trim. Notice what happens when the wrong kind of trimming is applied to the wrong category — when a body is trimmed as though it were a tree, decorated into spectacle; when a household budget is trimmed as though it were a dress, stripped to a minimum and expected to still look presentable for guests.
The word knows what it wants from you. Whether it wants more or less depends entirely on what category of thing you are.
“In budget season: cut more. At Christmas: add more. The word knows exactly what it wants from you.”
Old English trymman / trymian (“to put in order, to strengthen”).
Original sense: neither cutting nor adding, but setting in proper condition. The split emerged when “proper condition” was applied differently across domains: reduction for abstract quantities, addition for physical objects and occasions.