Dictionary / truth
truth
- noun
- verb
- from Old English
True facts, genuine depiction or statements of reality.
1 All current definitions
Every sense of “truth” in current use, as recorded by Wiktionary. Older and obsolete senses are kept separately.
noun
- uncountableusuallyTrue facts, genuine depiction or statements of reality.
The truth is that our leaders knew a lot more than they were letting on.
- uncountableusuallyConformity to fact or reality; correctness, accuracy.
There was some truth in his statement that he had no other choice.
- uncountableusuallyThe state or quality of being true to someone or something.
Truth to one's own feelings is all-important in life.
- uncountableusuallyConformity to rule; exactness; close correspondence with an example, mood, model, etc.
Ploughs, […] to make them go true, […] depends much upon the truth of the ironwork.1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC:
- uncountableusuallyThat which is real, in a deeper sense; spiritual or ‘genuine’ reality.
The truth is what is.
- countableusuallySomething acknowledged to be true; a true statement or axiom.
Hunger and jealousy are just eternal truths of human existence.
- uncountableusuallyIn the game truth or dare, the choice to truthfully answer a question put forth.
When asked truth or dare, he picked truth.
Older & obsolete senses (3)
- archaicuncountableusuallyFaithfulness, fidelity.
- obsoleteuncountableusuallyA pledge of loyalty or faith.
- dateduncountableusuallyTopness; the property of a truth quark.
verb
- To make exact; to correct for inaccuracy.
As is shown in this table, APG images in the validation subset were only truthed with box models, and the 29P images in this subset were never truthed at all.1990, Advanced Infrared Technology - Part 2, page cxxvi:
- intransitivenonstandardTo tell the truth.
You keep lying, when you oughta be truthin'1966, Nancy Sinatra, These Boots Are Made for Walkin':
Older & obsolete senses (1)
- obsoletetransitiveTo assert as true; to declare; to speak truthfully.
Cross-check: WordNet senses (5)
- nouna fact that has been verified
- nounconformity to reality or actuality — also: the true, verity, trueness
- nouna true statement — also: true statement
- nounthe quality of being near to the true value — also: accuracy
- nounUnited States abolitionist and feminist who was freed from slavery and became a leading advocate of the abolition of slavery and for the rights of women (1797-1883) — also: Sojourner Truth
Synonyms: truth, straight goods, veraciousness, veracity, veridicality, verity
Antonyms: falsehood, falsity, lie, nonsense, drivel, untruth, half-truth, falseness
2 History of the word
The etymology, the path the word travelled, and the words built from it.
The word’s journey, newest to oldest:
- English (today)truth
- Middle Englishtrouthe
- Old Englishtrēowþ
- Proto-Germanic*triwwiþō
- Proto-Germanic*triwwiz + *-iþō
Inherited from Middle English trouthe, from Old English trēowþ, from Proto-Germanic *triwwiþō, from *triwwiz + *-iþō. By surface analysis, true + -th. Doublet of troth. Cognate with Norwegian trygd (“trustworthiness, security, insurance”), Icelandic tryggð (“loyalty, fidelity”).
Derivatives — words built from “truth”
Phrases & compounds
Related terms
Want to go deeper? See also “truth” on Etymonline ↗
3 Original language
Where “truth” came from before it was English.
4 Original meaning
What the word meant at the oldest point the record reaches.
Wiktionary’s etymology does not give a separate meaning for the earliest form of “truth”, so we don’t state one. The historical dictionary entry below shows how the word was understood in 1913.
Historical meaning — Webster’s 1913
A historical record, labelled as such: some of these senses are dated or have since shifted.
truth n. [OE. treuthe, trouthe, treowpe, AS. tre. See True; cf. Troth, Betroth.]
- The quality or being true; as: -- (a) Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been; or shall be.
- Conformity to rule; exactness; close correspondence with an example, mood, object of imitation, or the like.
- Fidelity; constancy; steadfastness; faithfulness.
- The practice of speaking what is true; freedom from falsehood; veracity.
truth v. t.
- To assert as true; to declare.
5 Use it with confidence
Model sentences from the sources, matched to the meaning they show. Read each one aloud, then make your own in the game.
nounMeaning: True facts, genuine depiction or statements of reality.
The truth is that our leaders knew a lot more than they were letting on.
The truth depends on, and is only arrived at, by a legitimate deduction from all the facts which are truly material.1831 December 27, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Beauty—Genius”, in H[enry] N[elson] C[oleridge], editor, Specimens of the Table Talk of the Late Samuel Taylor Coleridge. […], volume II, London: John Murray, […], published 18
nounMeaning: Conformity to fact or reality; correctness, accuracy.
There was some truth in his statement that he had no other choice.
As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.2012 January 28, Robert M. Pringle, “How to Be Manipulative”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 31:
nounMeaning: The state or quality of being true to someone or something.
Truth to one's own feelings is all-important in life.
nounMeaning: Conformity to rule; exactness; close correspondence with an example, mood, model, etc.
Ploughs, […] to make them go true, […] depends much upon the truth of the ironwork.1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC:
The process of grinding is, in fact, regarded as indispensable wherever truth is required, yet that of scraping is calculated to produce a higher degree of truth than has ever been attained by grinding.1840, Joseph Whitworth, A Paper on Plane Metallic Surfaces or True Planes:
nounMeaning: That which is real, in a deeper sense; spiritual or ‘genuine’ reality.
The truth is what is.
Alcoholism and redemption led me finally to truth.
nounMeaning: Something acknowledged to be true; a true statement or axiom.
Hunger and jealousy are just eternal truths of human existence.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
nounMeaning: a fact that has been verified
at last he knew the truth
the truth is that he didn't want to do it
nounMeaning: conformity to reality or actuality
they debated the truth of the proposition
the situation brought home to us the blunt truth of the military threat
nounMeaning: a true statement
he told the truth
he thought of answering with the truth but he knew they wouldn't believe it
nounMeaning: the quality of being near to the true value
the lawyer questioned the truth of my account
Three steps to owning it
- Pick one meaning above and read its model sentence out loud.
- Say who or what the word is about in your own life, then build a sentence around that.
- Check it against the definition: would a careful reader understand exactly that meaning?
6 The mastery game
Play it here, or print it and do it with pen and paper. At the end you will know the meanings, history, origin and original meaning — and you will have used the word yourself.
Say it, then spell it
truth
/tɹuːθ/
Say the word out loud three times, slowly. Notice the stressed syllable. When you are ready, hide it and spell it from memory.
Activate Words · Word-mastery worksheet · Name: ______________________ Date: __________
truth
/tɹuːθ/ · noun, verb
Step 1 — Say it and write it
Say “truth” out loud three times. Then cover the word and write it three times from memory.
Step 2 — Know every meaning
Read each definition. Then write it again in your own words.
Step 3 — Which meaning is it?
“The truth is that our leaders knew a lot more than they were letting on.”
Circle the meaning used.
“There was some truth in his statement that he had no other choice.”
Circle the meaning used.
“Truth to one's own feelings is all-important in life.”
Circle the meaning used.
Step 4 — History and origin
Write the word’s journey back in time (each language and form):
Write three words built from “truth” and what each means:
Step 5 — Original meaning
Read the etymology on the page. What does it tell you about the word’s earlier meaning?
How does that original meaning connect to the meanings today?
Step 6 — Use it yourself
☐ I can explain its meanings ☐ I know its history ☐ I know its original language ☐ I know its original meaning ☐ I can use it confidently
Answer key — truth
Which meaning, sentence 1: C. True facts, genuine depiction or statements of reality.
Which meaning, sentence 2: A. Conformity to fact or reality; correctness, accuracy.
Which meaning, sentence 3: A. The state or quality of being true to someone or something.
Origin: B. Old English (Old English trēowþ)
Journey: English truth ← Middle English trouthe ← Old English trēowþ ← Proto-Germanic *triwwiþō ← Proto-Germanic *triwwiz + *-iþō
Some derivatives: antitruth, biotruth, countertruth, half-truth, mistruth, nontruth, post-truth, semitruth
Etymology: Inherited from Middle English trouthe, from Old English trēowþ, from Proto-Germanic *triwwiþō, from *triwwiz + *-iþō. By surface analysis, true + -th. Doublet of troth. Cognate with Norwegian trygd (“trustworthiness, security, insurance”), Icelandic tryggð (“loyalty, fidelity”).
Sources: Wiktionary “truth” (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/truth#English), CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org; Princeton WordNet 3.0; Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913, public domain) via GCIDE. Worksheet from https://activatewords.com/w/truth