Etymology From Middle English trewes, triwes, trues, plural of trewe, triewe, true (“faithfulness, assurance, pact”), from Old English trēowa, singularized plural of trēow, trȳw (“faith; pledge; agreement”), from Proto-West Germanic *treuwu, from Proto-Germanic *trewwō (compare Dutch trouw, German Treue, Danish tro, French trêve [< Germanic]), noun form of *triwwiz (“trusty, faithful”). More at true.
1
A period of time in which no fighting takes place due to an agreement between the opposed parties.
An uneasy truce
[I]n about ſix VVeeks or tvvo Months, the Dyſentery gave Truce, in vvhich Time I vvas often fretted vvith ſtrangurious Symptoms.1732 September 30 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Dr. Cranstoun, “The Objections against a Regimen, Especially a Milk, Seed, and Vegetable Diet, Considered. The Case of the Learned and Ingenous Dr. Cranstoun, in a Letter to the Author at His Desire, in Dr. Cranstoun’s Own Words.”, in George Cheyne, The English Malady: Or, A Treatise of Nervous Diseases of All Kinds, […], London: […] G[eorge] Strahan […]; Bath, Somerset: J. Leake, published 1733, →OCLC, part III (Containing Variety of Cases that Illustrate and Confirm the Foregoing Method of Cure. […]), page 321:
2
An agreement between opposed parties in which they pledge to cease fighting for a limited time.
He asked for a truce with his school enemy for five days.
They should meet that night on some neutral spot to ratify the truce.1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter IV, in The Last Man. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
2 more examples
‘The Truce holds, Bagheera. This is no time to talk of hunting.’1895 November, Rudyard Kipling, “How Fear Came”, in The Second Jungle Book, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 8:
[T]hey marked their truce by each of them, Aesir and Vanir alike, one by one spitting into a vat. As their spit mingled, so was their agreement made binding.2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 108:
Etymology From Middle English trewes, triwes, trues, plural of trewe, triewe, true (“faithfulness, assurance, pact”), from Old English trēowa, singularized plural of trēow, trȳw (“faith; pledge; agreement”), from Proto-West Germanic *treuwu, from Proto-Germanic *trewwō (compare Dutch trouw, German Treue, Danish tro, French trêve [< Germanic]), noun form of *triwwiz (“trusty, faithful”). More at true.
1
To come to an agreement to cease fighting.
Only undaunted Henry de Tracey […] held up the cause; trucing at last, in loyal terms, till the king should become more powerful and be able in person to restrain the country.1869, Thomas Cobbe, History of the Norman Kings of England, page 330: