From Middle English treowe, trew, trewe, triwe, true, trwe, from Old English trēowe, trīewe (“faithful, true”), from Proto-Germanic *triwwiz (“faithful, true”), from pre-Germanic *drewh₂yos, from Proto-Indo-European *drewH- (“firm, hard, true”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian trjou (“honest”), Alemannic German trüüw (“loyal”), Dutch trouw (“loyal, true”), German treu (“loyal, true”), Luxembourgish trei (“loyal”), Danish tryg (“safe, secure”), Faroese and Icelandic tryggur (“faithful, loyal; safe”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish trygg (“safe, secure”), Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐍃 (triggws, “true; faithful, loyal”); also 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 (“tough”) from robur (“red oak”).
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Of shooting Accurately; in alignment.
This gun shoots true.
If the tyre doesn't run true (it wobbles as you spin the wheel), re-seat it by letting most of the air out and pulling the tyre away from the bead.2013, Guy Andrews, Complete Road Bike Maintenance, first edition, London: Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 81:
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Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
I tel you true my hart is ſwolne with wrath, On this ſame theeuish villain Tamburlain.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:
What am I to you? Tell me, darling, true.2004, Norah Jones, “What Am I to You?”, in Feels like Home:
true
noun
Etymology
From Middle English treowe, trew, trewe, triwe, true, trwe, from Old English trēowe, trīewe (“faithful, true”), from Proto-Germanic *triwwiz (“faithful, true”), from pre-Germanic *drewh₂yos, from Proto-Indo-European *drewH- (“firm, hard, true”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian trjou (“honest”), Alemannic German trüüw (“loyal”), Dutch trouw (“loyal, true”), German treu (“loyal, true”), Luxembourgish trei (“loyal”), Danish tryg (“safe, secure”), Faroese and Icelandic tryggur (“faithful, loyal; safe”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish trygg (“safe, secure”), Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐍃 (triggws, “true; faithful, loyal”); also 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 (“tough”) from robur (“red oak”).
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The state of being in alignment.
Some toolmakers are very careless when drilling the first hole through work that is to be bored, claiming that if the drilled hole comes out of true somewhat it can be brought true with the boring tool.1904, Lester Gray French, Machinery, volume 10:
She clapped her hands happily, and he thought how pretty she was really, that is, the upper part of her face—from the bridge of the nose down she was somewhat out of true.1922, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, “(please specify the page)”, in Tales of the Jazz Age, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
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The crate shifted on its pallet, out of sync now. As the lift withdrew, the crate skidded with it, dragged by friction and gravity, skewing farther and farther from true.1988, Lois McMaster Bujold, Falling Free, Baen Publishing,, →ISBN, page 96:
The strength and number of blows depends on how far out of true the shafts are.1994, Bruce Palmer, How to Restore Your Harley-Davidson:
From Middle English treowe, trew, trewe, triwe, true, trwe, from Old English trēowe, trīewe (“faithful, true”), from Proto-Germanic *triwwiz (“faithful, true”), from pre-Germanic *drewh₂yos, from Proto-Indo-European *drewH- (“firm, hard, true”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian trjou (“honest”), Alemannic German trüüw (“loyal”), Dutch trouw (“loyal, true”), German treu (“loyal, true”), Luxembourgish trei (“loyal”), Danish tryg (“safe, secure”), Faroese and Icelandic tryggur (“faithful, loyal; safe”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish trygg (“safe, secure”), Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐍃 (triggws, “true; faithful, loyal”); also 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 (“tough”) from robur (“red oak”).
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To straighten (something that is supposed to be straight).
He trued the spokes of the bicycle wheel.
Don't attempt to true a wheel until you've a good idea what is causing the buckle.2013, Guy Andrews, Complete Road Bike Maintenance, first edition, London: Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 54:
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To make even, level, symmetrical, or accurate, align; adjust (often followed by up).
From Middle English treowe, trew, trewe, triwe, true, trwe, from Old English trēowe, trīewe (“faithful, true”), from Proto-Germanic *triwwiz (“faithful, true”), from pre-Germanic *drewh₂yos, from Proto-Indo-European *drewH- (“firm, hard, true”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian trjou (“honest”), Alemannic German trüüw (“loyal”), Dutch trouw (“loyal, true”), German treu (“loyal, true”), Luxembourgish trei (“loyal”), Danish tryg (“safe, secure”), Faroese and Icelandic tryggur (“faithful, loyal; safe”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish trygg (“safe, secure”), Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐍃 (triggws, “true; faithful, loyal”); also 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 (“tough”) from robur (“red oak”).
Of a statement Conforming to the actual state of reality or fact; factually correct.
This is a true story.
The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;[…]. Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 110:
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The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.1963, Margery Allingham, “Eye Witness”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 249:
At any rate, this does tend to put in truer perspective the symbolic claim placed by Herodotus in the mouth of 'the Athenians'—also Ionians—in 480/479, that the fact of being Greek was constituted in essential part by 'same-bloodedness'.2009, Paul Cartledge, Ancient Greece: A History in Eleven Cities:
Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.[…]One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful.2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
As the is it gold is it blue? dress moment proved all too well, dividing opinion on social media is really not that hard. And, when it comes to GymTok, that couldn't be truer.2022 January 14, Jade Biggs, “This TikTok of a woman squatting in the gym is dividing people”, in Cosmopolitan, New York, N.Y.: Hearst Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Aug 2023:
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Of a statement As an ellipsis of "(while) it is true (that)", used to start a sentence
True, I have only read part of the book, but I like it so far.
The “Bulletin” “denies that we have been celebrating the birth of the Australian Commonwealth. Our so-called national celebrations have been prostituted to a Jingo military carnival, glorificatory of one of the most venal and ignoble wars of the dead century.” True, but the “Bulletin” shouldn’t sing out.1901 February 2, “Plain Words”, in The People: Official Organ of the Australian Socialist League, volume V, number 211, Sydney, N.S.W., →OCLC, page [3], column 2:
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Conforming to a rule or pattern; exact; accurate.
a true copy
a true likeness of the original
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[…]making his eye, foot, and hand keep true time[…]1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter XI, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 229:
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Human sciences, Logic, Mathematics, Philosophy, Sciences Of the state in Boolean logic that indicates an affirmative or positive result.
"A and B" is true if and only if "A" is true and "B" is true.
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Loyal, faithful.
He’s turned out to be a true friend.
I really let you down / Next time I'll be true, yeah1988, Womack & Womack, “Teardrops”:
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Genuine; legitimate; valid; sensu stricto.
The true king has returned!
This is true Parmesan cheese — it is from the Parma region.
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The Harpe. […] A harper with his wreſt maye tune the harpe wrong / Mys tunyng of an Inſtrument ſhal hurt a true ſonge1568, William Cornysh, “In the Fleete Made by Me William Cornishe …”, in John Skelton, edited by J[ohn] S[tow], Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate, Imprinted at London: In Fletestreate, neare vnto Saint Dunstones Churche by Thomas Marshe, →OCLC; republished as Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate to King Henry the VIIIth, London: Printed for C. Davis in Pater-noster Row, 1736, →OCLC, page 290:
The Washington Monument is often described as an obelisk, and sometimes even as a “true obelisk,” even though it is not. A true obelisk is a monolith, a pylon formed out of a single piece of stone.2012 January 23, Henry Petroski, “The Washington Monument”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 16:
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Biology, Natural sciences Used in the designation of group of species, or sometimes a single species, to indicate that it belongs to the clade its common name (which may be more broadly scoped in common speech) is restricted to in technical speech, or to distinguish it from a similar species, the latter of which may be called false.
true sparrows (Passer)
true spiders
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true blusher (Amanita rubescens, as distinguished from the false blusher, Amanita pantherina)
The true bugs are those of the order Hemiptera; and, by some lights, most truly those of the suborder Heteroptera.
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Golf, Hobbies, Lifestyle, SportsUsually Accurate; following a path toward the target.
Of an aim or missile in archery
Whate'er the weapon, still his aim was true, Nor e'er in vain the fatal bullet flew.1801, Mrs. Cowley, “The siege of Acre”, in The British Critic, volumes 17-18, page 521:
I held my breath and struck the ball. My aim was true, but I didn't give the damn thing enough gas. It died three feet from the cup.2008, Carl Hiaasen, The downhill lie: a hacker's return to a ruinous sport, page 188:
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Of a mechanical part Correctly aligned or calibrated, without deviation.
Is my bike wheel true? It feels unsteady.
Brakes need good braking surfaces and true wheels to work properly.2013, Guy Andrews, Complete Road Bike Maintenance, first edition, London: Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 139:
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Mathematics, Probability, Sciences Fair, unbiased, not loaded.
Let Z#95;t be twice the value of a true die shown on the t-th toss.1990, William W. S. Wei, Time Series Analysis, →ISBN, page 8:
In fact, few profit margins can be predicted with such reliability as those provided by a true roulette wheel or other game of chance.2006, Judith A. Baer, Leslie Friedman Goldstein, The Constitutional and Legal Rights of Women: Cases in Law and Social Change, →ISBN:
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Finally, the truest measure of quality: In interconference games, Western teams have a 57-38 record against the East, including overtime and penalty shootout results — a winning percentage of .600.2007 January 21, Jeff Z. Klein, Karl-Eric Reif, “In the N.H.L., East Is East and West Is West”, in The New York Times:
We do not reject, because 9 heads and 3 tails is in a set of reasonably likely results when we toss a true coin.2012, Peter Sprent, Applied Nonparametric Statistical Methods, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 5:
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Of a literary genre based on actual historical events.
true crime
true romance
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[A] skinny blonde of about twenty sitting in an armchair by an electric fire reading a true romance magazine.1965, James Holledge, What Makes a Call Girl?, London: Horwitz Publications, page 69: