trouthe
Middle English
Alternative forms
- trawthe, treowthe, treuthe, treuþe, trewthe, trowthe, trowþe, truthe
Etymology
Inherited from Old English trēowþ, trīewþ, from Proto-West Germanic *triuwiþu, from Proto-Germanic *triwwiþō; euivalent to trewe + -the (abstract nominal suffix).
The final vowel is generalised from Old English oblique cases, while forms in /iu̯/ reflect the influence of trewe; the usual vocalism in /ɛu̯/, /ɔu̯/ is due to shortening before the consonant cluster /wθ/ in late Old English.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtrɔu̯ð(ə)/, /ˈtrɛu̯ð(ə)/, /ˈtriu̯ð(ə)/, /-θ(ə)/
- (Early ME) IPA(key): /ˈtrøwðə/
Noun
trouthe (uncountable)
- loyalty (to a cause)
- honesty, honor, troth
- goodness, kindness, integrity
- truth, reality (especially absolute)
- religion, belief system
- righteousness, justness; being right in one's cause
- troth: a pledge, contract, promise or oath
- 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Freres Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], OCLC 230972125; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, OCLC 932884868, folio xliii, verso:
- Euerich in other his trouthe laythe / For to be ſworne brethern, til they dey / And with yͤ worde they riden forth her wey / [...] / Nowe by my trouth brother dere ſayd he / As I ſhal tellen the a faithful tale [...]
- Each in the other his troth lay / For to be sworn brothers, till they died / And with the word they rode forth on their way / [...] / Now by my troth brother dear, said he / As I shall tell you a faithful tale [...]
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- A fact or truth.
Descendants
- English: truth, troth
- Scots: trowth, trewth
References
- “treuth, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-16.