use-icon

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

use-icon

THE USAGE PANEL

The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.

The Panelists

open-icon

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.

scroll-icon

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.

100-words-icon

See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series!

Find out more!

open-icon

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com

true (tr)
Share:
adj. tru·er, tru·est
1.
a. Consistent with fact or reality; not false or erroneous: the true cost. See Synonyms at real1. See Usage Note at fact.
b. Not counterfeit; real or genuine: true gold. See Synonyms at authentic.
c. Conforming to the characteristics or criteria of a group or type; typical: a true crab; a true gentleman.
d. Properly called: true value.
2. Reliable; accurate: a true prophecy.
3.
a. Faithful, as to a friend, vow, or cause; loyal. See Synonyms at faithful.
b. Archaic Truthful, honest, or trustworthy.
4. Sincerely felt or expressed; unfeigned: true grief.
5. Rightful; legitimate: the true heir.
6.
a. Exactly conforming to a rule, standard, or pattern: trying to sing true B.
b. Accurately shaped, fitted, or placed: Are the wheels true?
c. Determined with reference to the earth's axis, not the magnetic poles: true north.
7. Quick and exact in sensing and responding: a true ear.
8. Computers Indicating one of two possible values taken by a variable in Boolean logic or a binary device.
adv.
1. In accord with reality, fact, or truthfulness.
2. Unswervingly; exactly: The archer aimed true.
3. So as to conform to a type, standard, or pattern.
tr.v. trued, tru·ing or true·ing, trues
To position (something) so as to make it balanced, level, or square: trued up the long planks.
n.
1. Truth or reality. Used with the.
2. Proper alignment or adjustment: out of true.

[Middle English trewe, from Old English trēowe, firm, trustworthy; see deru- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

trueness n.

Word History: The words true and tree are joined at the root, etymologically speaking. In Old English, the words looked and sounded much more alike than they do now: "tree" was trēow and "true" was trēowe. The first of these comes from the Germanic noun *trewam; the second, from the adjective *treuwaz. Both these Germanic words ultimately go back to an Indo-European root *deru- or *dreu-, appearing in derivatives referring to wood and, by extension, firmness. Truth may be thought of as something firm; so too can certain bonds between people, like trust, another derivative of the same root. A slightly different form of the root, *dru-, appears in the word druid, a type of ancient Celtic priest; his name is etymologically *dru-wid-, or "strong seer."

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.