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; equivalent 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 Middle English) IPA^(key): /ˈtrøwðə/

Noun

trouthe (uncountable)

1. loyalty (to a cause)
2. honesty, honor, troth
3. goodness, kindness, integrity
4. truth, reality (especially absolute)
5. religion, belief system
6. righteousness, justness; being right in one's cause
7. troth: a pledge, contract, promise or oath
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Freres Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, 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 [...]

8. 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.