Meaning and Origin
What does the name True mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
User Submitted Origins
User Submitted Meanings
- According to a user from Sri Lanka, the name True means "A being that expresses".
- Conformable to fact; in accordance with the actual state of things; correct; not false, erroneous, inaccurate, or the like; as, a true relation or narration; a true history; a declaration is true when it states the facts.
- Right to precision; conformable to a rule or pattern; exact; accurate; as, a true copy; a true likeness of the original."Making his eye, foot, and hand keep true time." [Sir W. Scott.]
- Steady in adhering to friends, to promises, to a prince, or the like; unwavering; faithful; loyal; not false, fickle, or perfidious; as, a true friend; a wife true to her husband; an officer true to his charge."Thy so true, So faithful, love unequaled." [Milton.]"Dare to be true: nothing can need a lie." [Herbert.]
- Actual; not counterfeit, adulterated, or pretended; genuine; pure; real; as, true balsam; true love of country; a true Christian."The true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." [John i. 9.]" True ease in writing comes from art, not chance." [Pope.]
- [Biol] Genuine; real; not deviating from the essential characters of a class; as, a lizard is a true reptile; a whale is a true, but not a typical, mammal.
Note: ☞ True is sometimes used elliptically for It is true.
Etymology: OE. trewe, AS. treówe faithful, true, from treów fidelity, faith, troth; akin to OFries. triuwe, adj., treuwa, n., OS. triuwi, adj., trewa, n., D. trouw, adj. & n., G. treu, adj., treue, n., OHG. gitriuwi, adj., triuwa (n.), Icel. tryggr, adj., Dan. tro, adj. & n., Sw. trogen, adj., tro, n., Goth. triggws, adj., triggwa, n., trauan to trust, OPruss druwis faith. Cf. Trow Trust Truth
- Proper alignment; the property possessed by something that is in correct or proper alignment ("out of true")
- Make level, square, balanced, or concentric ("true up the cylinder of an engine")
- Accurately placed or thrown ("his aim was true")
- Accurately fitted; level ("the window frame isn't quite true")
- Devoted (sometimes fanatically) to a cause or concept or truth ("true believers bonded together against all who disagreed with them")
- In tune; accurate in pitch ("a true note")
- Expressing or given to expressing the truth ("a true statement")
- Having a legally established claim ("the true and lawful king")
- Determined with reference to the earth's axis rather than the magnetic poles ("true north is geographic north")
- Rightly so called ("true courage", "a spirit which true men have always admired", and "a true friend")
- Not pretended; sincerely felt or expressed ("true grief")
- Consistent with fact or reality; not false ("the story is true", "it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true", and "the true meaning of the statement")
- Worthy of being depended on ("he was true to his word" and "I would be true for there are those who trust me")
- Conforming to definitive criteria ("the horseshoe crab is not a true crab" and "Pythagoras was the first true mathematician")
- As acknowledged ("true, she is the smartest in her class")
From Middle English trewe, from Old English trīewe, (Mercian) trēowe (“trusty, faithful”), from Proto-Germanic *triwwiz (compare Saterland Frisian trjou (“honest”), Dutch getrouw and trouw, German treu, Norwegian and Swedish trygg (“safe, secure’”), from pre-Germanic *drewh₂yos, from Proto-Indo-European *drewh₂- (“steady, firm”) (compare Irish dearbh (“sure”), Old Prussian druwis (“faith”), Ancient Greek δροόν (droón, “firm”)), extension of *dóru (“tree”). More at tree.
For the semantic development, compare Latin robustus (“tough”) from robur (“red oak”).
- (uncountable) The state of being in alignment.
- (uncountable, obsolete) Truth.
- (countable, obsolete) A pledge or truce.
true was also found in the following language(s): Danish, Middle English, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk