true

A1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /tɹuː/ See IPA manual

Freq #349

Meanings

1

adj
Agreeing with the facts; correct and not made up.

This is a true story.
2

adj
Real and genuine, not false or only seeming so.

A true friend will stand by you in hard times.
3

adj
Loyal and faithful to someone or something.

He stayed true to his promise despite the pressure.
4

adj
Exact and accurate; matching a model or standard.

Please make a true copy of the original document.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · agreeing with the facts;... factual real

2 adj · real and genuine, not false... real genuine

3 adj · loyal and faithful to... faithful loyal

4 adj · exact and accurate;... precise accurate

Word family

Forms truertruest

Derived forms true-up

Related forms truth

Etymology

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”) (possibly also Proto-Slavic *sъdorvъ (“healthy”) from the same root). More at tree. For the semantic development, compare Latin robustus (“…

trewe Middle English trīewe Old English *triwwiz Proto-Germanic *drewh₂- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

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# true

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /tɹuː/
**Frequency rank:** 349

## Meanings
1. Agreeing with the facts; correct and not made up.
2. Real and genuine, not false or only seeming so.
3. Loyal and faithful to someone or something.
4. Exact and accurate; matching a model or standard.

## Examples
- This is a true story.
- A true friend will stand by you in hard times.
- He stayed true to his promise despite the pressure.
- Please make a true copy of the original document.

## Derived Forms
- true-up

## Related Forms
- truth

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: trewe
- Root: trīewe
- Root: *triwwiz
- Root: *drewh₂-

## Etymology
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”) (possibly also Proto-Slavic *sъdorvъ (“healthy”) from the same root). More at tree. For the semantic development, compare Latin robustus (“…

## AI Etymology
True is 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”) (possibly also Proto-Slavic *sъdorvъ (“healthy”) from the same root). More at tree.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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true

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