True

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /tɹuː/
• US enPR: trōō IPA: /tɹu/
• Rhymes: -uː

Origin

From Middle English trewe, from Old English trīewe, (Mercian) trēowe ("trusty, faithful"), from Proto-Germanic *triwwiz (compare Dutch getrouw and trouw, German treu, Swedish trygg ("safe, secure’"), from pre-Germanic *dreu̯h₂i̯os, from Proto-Indo-European *druh₂, *dreu̯h₂ ‘steady, firm’ (compare Irish dearbh ("sure"), Old Prussian druwis ("faith"), Ancient Greek droós ("firm")), extension of *dóru ‘tree’. More at tree.

For semantic development, compare Latin robustus ("tough") from robur ("red oak").

Full definition of true

Adjective

1. (of a statement) Conforming to the actual state of reality or fact; factually correct.
   This is a true story.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 8, 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.
• 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 20, 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.
• 2013-07-20, Old soldiers?, 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.
2. Conforming to a rule or pattern; exact; accurate.
   a true copy;   a true likeness of the original
• Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)making his eye, foot, and hand keep true time
3. (logic) 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.
4. Loyal, faithful.
   He’s turned out to be a true friend.
5. Genuine.
   This is true Parmesan cheese.
• 2012-01, Henry Petroski, The Washington Monument, 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.
6. Legitimate.
   The true king has returned!
7. (of an aim or missile in archery, shooting, golf, etc.) Accurate; following a path toward the target.
• 1801, Mrs. Cowley, The siege of Acre, Whate'er the weapon, still his aim was true, Nor e'er in vain the fatal bullet flew.
• 2008, Carl Hiaasen, The downhill lie: a hacker's return to a ruinous sport, 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.
• 1990, William W. S. Wei, Time Series Analysis, ISBN 0201159112, page 8:Let $Z\_t$ be twice the value of a true die shown on the $$

Antonyms

• (of a statement, logic, loyal) false
• untrue

Derived terms

Related terms

• truth

Adverb

1. (of shooting, throwing etc) Accurately.
• 2013, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, Wild Plants to the Rescue, 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.
2. this gun shoots true

Noun