Truss derives from the Old French word trousse, from around 1200 AD, which means "collection of things bound together". The term truss has often been used to describe any assembly of members such as a cruck frame or a couple of rafters. One engineering definition is: "A truss is a single plane framework of individual structural member [sic] connected at their ends of forms a series of triangle [sic] to span a large distance".