| English ''[[:wikt:truth|truth]]'' is from [[Old English]] ''tríewþ, tréowþ, trýwþ'', [[Middle English]] ''trewþe'', cognate to [[Old High German]] ''triuwida'', [[Old Norse]] ''tryggð''. Like ''[[troth]]'', it is a ''[[:wikt:-th|-th]]'' nominalisation of the adjective ''true'' (Old English ''tréowe''). | | English ''[[:wikt:truth|truth]]'' is from [[Old English]] ''tríewþ, tréowþ, trýwþ'', [[Middle English]] ''trewþe'', cognate to [[Old High German]] ''triuwida'', [[Old Norse]] ''tryggð''. Like ''[[troth]]'', it is a ''[[:wikt:-th|-th]]'' nominalisation of the adjective ''true'' (Old English ''tréowe''). |
− | English ''[[:wikt:true|true]]'' is from Old English ([[West Saxon]]) ''(ge)tríewe, [[:wikt:treowe|tréowe]]'', cognate to [[Old Saxon]] ''(gi)trûui'', [[Old High German]] ''(ga)triuwu'' ([[Modern German]] ''treu'' "faithful"), [[Old Norse]] ''tryggr'', [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''triggws''.<ref>see [[Holtzmann's law]] for the ''-ww-'' : ''-gg-'' alternation.</ref>, all from a [[Proto-Germanic]] ''*trewwj-'' "having [[good faith]]". | + | English ''[[:wikt:true|true]]'' is from Old English ([[West Saxon]]) ''(ge)tríewe, [[:wikt:treowe|tréowe]]'', cognate to [[Old Saxon]] ''(gi)trûui'', [[Old High German]] ''(ga)triuwu'' ([[Modern German]] ''treu'' "faithful"), [[Old Norse]] ''tryggr'', [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''triggws''. see [[Holtzmann's law]] for the ''-ww-'' : ''-gg-'' alternation.</ref>, all from a [[Proto-Germanic]] ''*trewwj-'' "having [[good faith]]". |
− | Old Norse ''{{lang|is|trú}}'', means "faith, word of honour; religious faith, belief"<ref>Zoega (1910)[http://www.northvegr.org/zoega/h442.php] (archaic English ''[[:wikt:troth|troth]]'' "loyalty, honesty, good faith", compare ''{{lang|is|[[Ásatrú]]}}''). | + | Old Norse ''{{lang|is|trú}}'', means "faith, word of honour; religious faith, belief" Zoega (1910)[http://www.northvegr.org/zoega/h442.php] (archaic English ''[[:wikt:troth|troth]]'' "loyalty, honesty, good faith", compare ''{{lang|is|[[Ásatrú]]}}''). |
| Thus, ''truth'' in its original sense is the quality of "faithfulness, fidelity, loyalty, sincerity, veracity",<ref>[[OED]] on ''true'' has "Steadfast in adherence to a commander or friend, to a principle or cause, to one's promises, faith, etc.; firm in allegiance; faithful, loyal, constant, trusty; Honest, honourable, upright, virtuous, trustworthy; free from deceit, sincere, truthful " besides "Conformity with fact; agreement with reality; accuracy, correctness, verity; Consistent with fact; agreeing with the reality; representing the thing as it is; Real, genuine; rightly answering to the description; properly so called; not counterfeit, spurious, or imaginary."</ref>, and the narrowed sense "in agreement with [[fact]] or [[reality]]", in Anglo-Saxon expressed by ''[[:wikt:sōþ|sōþ]]'', is a secondary development coupled to the process of "[[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]" in [[17th century philosophy]].<ref>Attested since the early 17th century. E.g., [[Shakespeare]] in ''[[As You Like It]]'' (5.4) has "If there be truth in sight, you are my daughter."; [[William Prynne]] in his ''A briefe survay and censure of Mr Cozens his couzening devotions '' (1628) has "I haue here sufficiently euidenced the trueth of this Assertion." | | Thus, ''truth'' in its original sense is the quality of "faithfulness, fidelity, loyalty, sincerity, veracity",<ref>[[OED]] on ''true'' has "Steadfast in adherence to a commander or friend, to a principle or cause, to one's promises, faith, etc.; firm in allegiance; faithful, loyal, constant, trusty; Honest, honourable, upright, virtuous, trustworthy; free from deceit, sincere, truthful " besides "Conformity with fact; agreement with reality; accuracy, correctness, verity; Consistent with fact; agreeing with the reality; representing the thing as it is; Real, genuine; rightly answering to the description; properly so called; not counterfeit, spurious, or imaginary."</ref>, and the narrowed sense "in agreement with [[fact]] or [[reality]]", in Anglo-Saxon expressed by ''[[:wikt:sōþ|sōþ]]'', is a secondary development coupled to the process of "[[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]" in [[17th century philosophy]].<ref>Attested since the early 17th century. E.g., [[Shakespeare]] in ''[[As You Like It]]'' (5.4) has "If there be truth in sight, you are my daughter."; [[William Prynne]] in his ''A briefe survay and censure of Mr Cozens his couzening devotions '' (1628) has "I haue here sufficiently euidenced the trueth of this Assertion." |