truth

Wikipedia

English

Alternative forms

• trewth (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old English trēowþ, trīewþ (“truth, veracity, faith, fidelity, loyalty, honour, pledge, covenant”), from Proto-Germanic *trewwiþō (“promise, covenant, contract”), from Proto-Indo-European *drū- (“tree”), from Proto-Indo-European *deru- (“firm, solid”), equivalent to true +‎ -th. Cognate with Icelandic tryggð (“loyalty, fidelity”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /t͡ʃɹuːθ/, SAMPA: /tru:T/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːθ

Noun

truth (usually uncountable; plural truths)

1. (archaic) The state or quality of being true to someone or something; faithfulness, fidelity.

   Truth to one's own feelings is all-important in life.

2. (obsolete) A pledge of loyalty or faith.
3. Conformity to fact or reality; correctness, accuracy.

   There was some truth in his statement that he had no other choice.

4. True facts, genuine depiction or statements of reality.

   The truth is that our leaders knew a lot more than they were letting on.

5. 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.

   • 1820: Beauty is truth, truth beauty, - that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. — John Keats, ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’
6. Something acknowledged to be true; a true statement or axiom.

   Hunger and jealousy are just eternal truths of human existence.

   • 1813: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. — Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
7. (physics) A now-outdated term for topness. (See also truth quark.)

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:truth

Antonyms

• falsehood
• falsity
• lie
• nonsense
• untruth
• half-truth

Related terms

• half-truth
• if truth be told
• tell the truth
• true
• truthful
• truthiness
• truthless
• truth or dare
• truthy
• untrue

Translations

state or quality of being true to someone or something

Aramaic: Syriac: ܫܪܪܐ (š(ə)rārāʾ) m. Armenian: հավատարմություն (hy) (havatarmut'yun) Czech: pravda (cs) f. Dutch: oprechtheid (nl) f., eerlijkheid (nl) f. French: vérité (fr) f. Galician: verdade (gl) f. German: Wahrheit (de) f., Treue (de) f. Greek: αλήθεια (el) (alíthia) f. Hungarian: igazságosság (hu) Irish: fírinne (ga) f. Japanese: 誠 (ja) (makoto), まこと (ja) (makoto)

Luxembourgish: Wourecht (lb) f. Old Provençal: veritat Persian: حقیقت (fa) Romanian: corectitudine (ro) f., sinceritate (ro), bună credință (ro) f., veridicitate (ro) Russian: верность (ru) (vérnost’) f. Scottish Gaelic: fìrinn (gd) f. Spanish: verdad (es) f. Swahili: ukweli (sw) Swedish: tro (sv), trohet (sv), troskap (sv) Tamil: உண்மை (ta) (uṉmai) Telugu: నమ్మకము (te) (nammakamu) Welsh: gwir (cy)

pledge of loyalty or faith

Aramaic: Syriac: ܫܪܪܐ (š(ə)rārāʾ) m. Croatian: odan (hr) m. Dutch: eed (nl) m.

Japanese: 誠 (ja) (makoto), まこと (ja) (makoto) Swahili: ukweli (sw) Telugu: విశ్వాసము (te) (visvAsamu)

conformity to fact or reality

Arabic: حقيقة (ar) (Haqiiqa) f. Aramaic: Syriac: ܩܘܫܬܐ (quštāʾ) m. Armenian: ճշմարտություն (hy) (č̣šmartut'yun) Belarusian: праўда (be) (práŭda) f. Bulgarian: истина (bg) (ístina) f., правда (bg) (právda) f. Chamicuro: akachelo'ta Chinese: Mandarin: 真理 (zh) (zhēnlǐ) Czech: pravda (cs) f. Dutch: waarheid (nl) f., echtheid (nl) f. Esperanto: vereco (eo) Finnish: totuus (fi) French: vérité (fr) f. German: Wahrheit (de) f. Hindi: सच (hi) (sac) m. Irish: fírinne (ga) f. Japanese: 真実 (ja) (shinjitsu), しんじつ (ja) (shinjitsu), 事実 (ja) (jijitsu), じじつ (ja) (jijitsu), 本当 (ja) (hontō), ほんとう (ja) (hontō), 真理 (ja) (しんり, shinri)

Korean: 진리 (ko) (jilli) (真理 (ko)) Macedonian: вистина (mk) (vístina) f. Persian: حقیقت (fa) (haqiqat) Polish: prawda (pl) f. Romanian: adevăr (ro), veridicitate (ro) f. Russian: правда (ru) (právda) f., истина (ru) (ístina) f. Scottish Gaelic: fìrinn (gd) f. Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: истина (sh) f. Roman: istina (sh) f. Slovak: pravda (sk) f. Slovene: resnica (sl) f. Swahili: ukweli (sw) Swedish: sanning (sv), sanningshalt (sv) Telugu: నిరూజణ (te) (nirUpaNa) Ukrainian: правда (uk) (právda) f., істина (uk) (ístyna) f. Urdu: سچ (ur) (sac) m., حقیقت (ur) Vietnamese: chân lý (vi) (真理 (vi)) Volapük: verat (vo)

true facts

Arabic: حقيقة (ar) (Haqiiqa) f. Aramaic: Syriac: ܩܘܫܬܐ (quštāʾ) m. Armenian: ճշմարտություն (hy) (č̣šmartut'yun) Chinese: Mandarin: 真理 (zh) (zhēnlǐ), 真實 (zh), 真实 (zh) (zhēnshí), 事實 (zh), 事实 (zh) (shìshí) Czech: pravda (cs) f. Dutch: waarheid (nl) f., werkelijkheid (nl) f. Finnish: totuus (fi) French: vérité (fr) German: Wahrheit (de) f. Greek: αλήθεια (el) (alíthia) f. Hindi: सच (hi) (sac) m. Hungarian: igazság (hu) Irish: fírinne (ga) f. Japanese: 真実 (ja) (shinjitsu), しんじつ (ja) (shinjitsu), 真相 (ja) (shinsō), しんそう (ja) (shinsō), 実態 (ja) (jittai), じったい (ja) (jittai), 事実 (ja) (jijitsu), じじつ (ja) (jijitsu), 本当 (ja) (hontō), ほんとう (ja) (hontō)

Korean: 진실 (ko) (jinsil) (眞實 (ko)) Persian: حقیقت (fa) (haqiqat) Polish: prawda (pl) f. Romanian: adevăr (ro) Russian: правда (ru) (právda) f., истина (ru) (ístina) f. Scottish Gaelic: fìrinn (gd) f. Spanish: verdad (es) f. Swahili: ukweli (sw) Swedish: sanning (sv) Telugu: వాస్తవ సంఘటన (te) (vAstava saMGTana) Thai: ความจริง (th) (kwaam-jing) Turkish: gerçek (tr) Urdu: سچ (ur) (sac) m. Vietnamese: sự thật (vi) Volapük: verat (vo)

that which is real

Arabic: حقيقة (ar) (Haqiiqa) f. Aramaic: Syriac: ܩܘܫܬܐ (quštāʾ) m. Armenian: ճշմարտություն (hy) (č̣šmartut'yun) Chinese: Mandarin: 真理 (zh) (zhēnlǐ) Czech: pravda (cs) f., skutečnost (cs) Dutch: werkelijkheid (nl) f., waarheid (nl) f. French: vérité (fr) German: Wahrheit (de) f. Greek: αλήθεια (el) (alíthia) f. Hebrew: אמת (he) (emét) f. Irish: fírinne (ga) f. Italian: verità (it)

Japanese: 真理 (ja) (しんり, shinri) Latin: veritas (la) Polish: prawda (pl) f. Portuguese: verdade (pt), verdades (pt) f. pl. Romanian: adevăr (ro), veridicitate (ro) f. Sanskrit: सत्य (sa) (satya) n. Scottish Gaelic: fìrinn (gd) f. Spanish: verdad (es) f. Swahili: ukweli (sw) Swedish: sanning (sv), verklighet (sv) Telugu: సహజము (te) (sahajamu) Turkish: gerçek (tr) Volapük: verat (vo) West Frisian: wierheid (fy)

something acknowledged to be true

Armenian: ճշմարտություն (hy) (č̣šmartut'yun) Czech: pravda (cs) f. Dutch: waarheid (nl) f. Finnish: totuus (fi) French: vérité (fr) f. German: Wahrheit (de) f. Greek: αλήθεια (el) (alíthia) f. Irish: fírinne (ga) f.

Japanese: 真理 (ja) (しんり, shinri) Russian: истина (ru) (ístina) f. Scottish Gaelic: fìrinn (gd) f. Swahili: ukweli (sw) Swedish: sanning (sv) Telugu: వాస్తవము (te) (vAstavamu) Volapük: veratod (vo)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: صدق (ʂeɖq) m. Breton: gwirionez f. Bulgarian: истина (ístina) f. Cebuano: kamatuoran Mandarin: 事實, 事实 (shìshí) Serbo-Croatian: istina Danish: sandhed Esperanto: vero Estonian: tõde Ewe: nyateƒe French: vérité (fr) f. Greek: αλήθεια (el) f. Hebrew: אמת (emet) f. Icelandic: sannleikur m. Ido: vera Indonesian: kebenaran Italian: verità f.

Kannada: ನನ್ನಿ (nanni) Korean: 진실 (jinsil), 진리 (jilli), 참됨 (chamdoem) Kurdish: ڕاستی Latin: veritas f. Macedonian: вистина (vistina) f. Malayalam: സത്യം (sathyam), നേര് (neru) Northern Sami: duohtavuohta Norwegian: sannhet Occitan: vertat f. Persian: درستی (dorosti) Portuguese: verdade f. Romanian: adevăr n. Serbo-Croatian: istina f. Slovak: pravda f. Slovene: resnica f. Spanish: verdad f. Swahili: kweli (class 9/10) Welsh: gwir Telugu: నిజము (te) (nijamu)

See also

• Truth on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: around · black · lady · #414: truth · turn · hold · cause