Trouth

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An obsolete spelling of truth, meaning the quality of being in accordance with fact or reality
2. A archaic variant spelling of the word truth, used in older English writing for what is actually so
3. Old form of the word truth, referring to accuracy, honesty, or what is genuinely the case

Etymology: "Trouth" is an older spelling of "truth," and the sense it carries once meant loyalty rather than accuracy. In Old English, the root word "trēowe" meant "faithful," and the abstract noun "trēowþ" described faithfulness, fidelity, or keeping one's word. Accuracy came later, as the idea of a faithful account of what was actually so. Middle English writers spelled the word in several ways, including "trouthe" and "trewthe," and the "ou" spelling was common for a time. The meaning of loyalty survived in a close relative, "troth," which is the same word with a separate spelling and a narrower sense of a pledge or solemn promise. It remains in the phrase "to plight one's troth," meaning to become engaged.