Etymology Inherited from Middle English trouthe, from Old English trēowþ, from Proto-Germanic *triwwiþō, from *triwwiz + *-iþō. By surface analysis, true + -th. Doublet of troth. Cognate with Norwegian trygd (“trustworthiness, security, insurance”), Icelandic tryggð (“loyalty, fidelity”).
Usually True facts, genuine depiction or statements of reality.
The truth is that our leaders knew a lot more than they were letting on.
The truth depends on, and is only arrived at, by a legitimate deduction from all the facts which are truly material.1831 December 27, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Beauty—Genius”, in H[enry] N[elson] C[oleridge], editor, Specimens of the Table Talk of the Late Samuel Taylor Coleridge. […], volume II, London: John Murray, […], published 1835, →OCLC, page 19:
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The truth is that [Isaac] Newton was very much a product of his time. The colossus of science was not the first king of reason, Keynes wrote after reading Newton’s unpublished manuscripts. Instead “he was the last of the magicians”.2014 June 21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2018:
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Usually Conformity to fact or reality; correctness, accuracy.
There was some truth in his statement that he had no other choice.
As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.2012 January 23, Robert M. Pringle, “How to Be Manipulative”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 31:
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Usually The state or quality of being true to someone or something.
Truth to one's own feelings is all-important in life.
Alas! they had been friends in youth; / But whispering tongues can poison truth; […]1800, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Christabel. Part II.”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: […] John Murray, […], by William Bulmer and Co. […], published 1816, →OCLC, page 32:
Usually Conformity to rule; exactness; close correspondence with an example, mood, model, etc.
Ploughs, […] to make them go true, […] depends much upon the truth of the ironwork.1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC:
The process of grinding is, in fact, regarded as indispensable wherever truth is required, yet that of scraping is calculated to produce a higher degree of truth than has ever been attained by grinding.1840, Joseph Whitworth, A Paper on Plane Metallic Surfaces or True Planes:
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Usually 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.
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"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,"—that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.1819 May, John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza 5, page 116:
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Usually Something acknowledged to be true; a true statement or axiom.
Hunger and jealousy are just eternal truths of human existence.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
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Natural sciences, Physical sciences, PhysicsDated, Usually Topness; the property of a truth quark.
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GamesUsually In the game truth or dare, the choice to truthfully answer a question put forth.
Etymology Inherited from Middle English trouthe, from Old English trēowþ, from Proto-Germanic *triwwiþō, from *triwwiz + *-iþō. By surface analysis, true + -th. Doublet of troth. Cognate with Norwegian trygd (“trustworthiness, security, insurance”), Icelandic tryggð (“loyalty, fidelity”).
1
Obsolete To assert as true; to declare; to speak truthfully.
c. 1636 John Ford, The Fancies Chaste and Noble Had they [the ancients] dreamt this, they would have truthed it heaven.
You were sitting with your family Thanksgiving, belly full of turkey and pie, surrounded by the love of your extended crime family, but your initial instinct was to truth a slur at Tim Walz?2025 December 1, Jon Stewart, “Trump Berates Reporters, Gets Mystery MRI & Closes Border to (Non-White) Immigrants”https://youtu.be/4STrDD7leEM?t=325s, The Daily Show, Comedy Central
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To make exact; to correct for inaccuracy.
A concentrated region of the agricultural test area was intensively ground truthed, not only to identify the crop types, but equally important, also to begin to determine the parameters controlling the radar energy reflected from a crop type at a particular stage of growth.1974, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, page 226:
As is shown in this table, APG images in the validation subset were only truthed with box models, and the 29P images in this subset were never truthed at all.1990, Advanced Infrared Technology - Part 2, page cxxvi:
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This database, which consisists of nearly 180,000 characters, was manually truthed.2003, Advances in Pattern Recognition ICAPR2003, →ISBN, page 67:
You keep lying, when you oughta be truthin'1966, Nancy Sinatra, These Boots Are Made for Walkin':
Truth
noun
Etymology From the name of the platform, Truth Social.
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An entry posted on the Truth Social platform.
The app's design looks like a clone of Twitter. Users can create a profile that shows who they're following. You're able to comment, share and like posts, which are called Truths.[2022 August 19, Queenie Wong, “Trump's Truth Social Sees Uptick in Users After FBI's Mar-a-Lago Search”, in CNET, archived from the original on 01 Sep 2022:
And yet, I still wasn’t adequately prepared for the immersive experience of scrolling through hundreds of his Truths and ReTruths. Even for Trump, this feed manages to shock.2024 September 24, Charlie Warzel, “The Trump Posts You Probably Aren’t Seeing”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 24 Sep 2024: