| 释义 |
▪ I. true, a. (n., adv.)|truː|
Forms: α. 1 (ᵹe)tríewe), 1–3 tréowe, 1–4 trýwe, 3 treouwe, 3–4 triwe, 3–7 trewe, trew, 4–7 treu, 5 treewe, triew(e. β. 3 (Orm.) trowwe, 5 trowe, 5–6 trow; 5 traw. γ. 3–5 truwe, 4–5 trwe, 4–7 tru, 6 trw, 5– true.
[OE. (strict WS. (ᵹe)tríewe, commonly) tréowe (ME. also truwe) = OS. (gi)trûui, OEFris. triuwe, OWFris. trouwe, (MDu. (ghe)trûwe, (ghe)trouwe, Du. getrouw), OHG. (ga)triuwu, (Ger. treu), ON. tryggr, Goth. triggws; repr. WGer. *trewwj-, lit. ‘having or characterized by good faith’, deriv. of the n. which is represented by OE. tréow, trúw, OHG. triuwa, Goth. triggwa faith, covenant: see truce.]
A. adj.
1. a. Of persons: 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. Somewhat arch.
a1000St. Guthlac 1269 (Gr.) Se wuldormaᵹo..spræc..to his treowum ᵹesiðe. c1205Lay. 8851 Mildeliche spæc þus Þe treowe cniht Androgeus. c1250Hymn Virg. 2 in Trin. Coll. Hom. App. 257 Þu ert leuedi swuþe treowe..Þi loue is euer iliche neowe. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 2320 May y þan trust to þy sawe Þat þou be now my trew felawe? 1388Wyclif Luke xvi. 10 He that is trewe in the leeste thing, is trewe also in the more. 1450–80tr. Secreta Secret. 19 Kepe wel thi feith and thi word euermore..gret worshipe vnto hem þat so trewe are founden in here feith. 1476Surtees Misc. (1888) 35 To all trewe Christen men. a1533Ld. Berners Huon xcv. 307 Ye haue done as a trew subjet ought to do to his lorde. 1646Hamilton Papers (Camden) 119 Your Grace's humblest truest seruant, R. Moray. 1821Shelley Bridal Song i, Never smiled the inconstant moon On a pair so true. 1847Tennyson Princess iv. 80 Bright and fierce and fickle is the South, And dark and true and tender is the North.
b. transf. of personal attributes or actions. Somewhat arch.; often passing into sense 2 or 5.
a800[see true-love 1]. c1200Ormin Introd. 69 Trigg & trowwe griþþ & friþþ. c1275Passion our Lord 45 in O.E. Misc. 38 Alle men he tauhte to holde treowe luue Erest to god almyhti. 13..Cursor M. 4422 (Gött.) Ille es þe quit þi treu seruis. 1454Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 281 That they shall do trewe execucion. c1560A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) ix. 14 Ane trewar hairt may no man haif. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 104 What proof could they have givn..Of true allegiance? 1832Tennyson Miller's Dau. 216 Round my true heart thine arms entwine.
c. Const. to (in early use with simple dative).
Beowulf (Z.) 1165 æᵹ-hwylc oðrum trywe. c1200Ormin 6177 Þin laferrd birrþ þe buhsumm beon & hold & trigg & trowwe. c1350Will. Palerne 596 And be tristy and trew to ȝow for euer-more. c1400Trevisa's Higden (Rolls) V. 447 (MS. γ) Þanne doo as þou hast byhote, and be truwe [v.r. trewe] to hym þat so haþ þe i-holpe. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1906) 97, Y haue founde you..not true vnto me. 1583B. Melbancke Philotimus E e j, I will bee as true to thee as the begger to his dishe. 1602Shakes. Ham. i. iii. 78 This aboue all; to thine owne selfe be true:..Thou canst not then be false to any man. 1678Wanley Wond. Lit. World v. ii. §82. 472/2 A Prince more just and true to his word. a1721Prior Song ‘Still, Dorinda’ iv, To my vows I have been true. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 258 Hyde had been true to his Tory opinions. 1855Ibid. xi. III. 1 True..to the cause of civil freedom.
d. fig. of things: Reliable; constant; † sure, secure (obs.).
c1205[see truly 1 b]. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 73 Þe pes to ȝeme & gyue with lawes trewe als stele. c1425Cursor M. 59 (Trin.) For whenne þou wenest hit trewest [v.r. truyst] to be, Þou shalt from hit or hit from þe. a1733Barton Booth Song, ‘Sweet are the charms of her I love’ ii, True as the Needle to the Pole, Or as the Dial to the Sun. 1791Cowper Iliad vi. 60 Steel Of truest temper. 1872D. Greenwell Liber Hum. (1875) 209 To the rock the root adheres, In every fibre true.
2. In more general sense: Honest, honourable, upright, virtuous, trustworthy (arch.); free from deceit, sincere, truthful (cf. 3 d); of actions, feelings, etc., sincere, unfeigned (now passing into or merged in 5). See also trueman.
a1012Laws of Ethelred iii. c. 9 Buton he habbe tweᵹra trywra manna ᵹewitnesse. c1200Vices & Virt. 45 Be trewe mann and halt tin god. a1225Ancr. R. 2 Þeos riwle is cherité of schir heorte and cleane inwit, and trewe bileaue. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 859 Men triwest [v.r. trewest] we [v.r. me] seþ And best me mai to hom truste þat of lest wordes beþ. c1380Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 321 As lif of a trew plow man..is betere preyere to god þen preyere of any ordre þat god loueþ lesse. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 464 (Balade) A trewe man..Hath nat to parte with a theuys dede. 1446Lydg. Two Night. Poems ii. 69 Triewe meanyng rooted so withynne, Fer from the conceyte of any maner synne. c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xiii. (1885) 141, iij. or iiij. theves..haue sett apon vj. or vij. trewe men, and robbed hem all. 1484Caxton Fables of Alfonce ii, He is..reputed..for a good man and trewe. 1599Shakes. Much Ado i. i. 27 There are no faces truer, then those that are so wash'd, how much better is it to weepe at ioy, then to ioy at weeping? 1611Bible Gen. xlii. 11 We are true men: thy seruants are no spies. c1614Sir W. Mure Dido & æneas i. 715 Her waxen heart, touch't with a trew remorse. 1710Addison Tatler No. 250 ⁋8 Good Men and true for a Petty Jury. 1847Helps Friends in C. I. 8 A true man does not think what his hearers are feeling, but what he is saying. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. v, Your own father has not a truer interest in you.
3. a. Of a statement or belief: Consistent with fact; agreeing with the reality; representing the thing as it is.
c1205Lay. 4443 Belin ihærde sugge Þurh summe sæȝ treowe Of his broðer wifðinge. 1382Wyclif John xxi. 24 We witen, for [1388 that] his witnessing is trewe. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. i. 100 Al þe world wot wel hit myȝte nat be trywe. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xvii. 396 ‘Syr, wyte that charlemagne is come wyth his oost’... ‘Is it true?’ said mawgis. a1529Skelton Dk. Albany 4 These tidinges newe Whiche be as trewe As the gospell. a1584Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 1018, I..Thocht all thair tales was trew. 1608Willet Hexapla Exod. 839 The truer opinion. 1710Bingham Chr. Antiq. xx. vii. §10 The fact was too true, and the charge too well-grounded, to be denied of them all in general. 1759Johnson Rasselas xlvii, The same proposition cannot be at once true and false. 1858Lardner Handbk. Nat. Phil., etc. 16 This will be true, however shallow the vessel..and however narrow the tube.
b. Often in phr. it is true (also inverted, true it is), introducing a statement; also ellipt. or interjectionally, true, introducing or in reply to a statement; usually in concessive sense: = truly, verily, certainly, doubtless.
1594T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 13 True it is, that we haue now taken in hand a very long piece of worke. 1604Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 79 That I haue tane away this old mans Daughter, It is most true: true I haue married her. 1611Bible Dan. iii. 24 They answered and said vnto the king: True, O king. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 173 It is true, we were all but young in the War. 1784Cowper Task iii. 210 True; I am no proficient, I confess, In arts like yours. 1859Ruskin Two Paths i. §1 It is true that the art which carves and colours the front of a Swiss cottage is not of any very exalted kind; yet [etc.].
c. come true: to be verified or realized in actual experience; to be fulfilled. hold true: see hold v. 23 c.
1819Shelley Questions 7 To patch up fragments of a dream, Part of which comes true. 1875Morris æneid viii. 580 While yet my fear is unfulfilled, and hope may yet come true. 1879M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. xxi. 206 His prophecy had come true.
d. transf. Speaking truly, telling the truth; trustworthy in statement; veracious, truthful. (Not always distinguishable from 2.) Also fig.
a1300Cursor M. 6599 (Cott.) All er yee tru, þis es your saghes, Es nan of yow þat þis calf knaues. c1440Promp. Parv. 503/2 Truwe mann, or woman, verax. c1460Towneley Myst. vii. 77 That thay be traw of thare tong, And bere no fals witnes. 1526Tindale Matt. xxii. 16 Master, we knowe that thou arte true, and that thou teachest the waye of god trueli. 1611Bible Prov. xiv. 25 A true witnesse deliuereth soules: but a deceitfull witnesse speaketh lyes. 1634Milton Comus 170 This way the noise was, if mine ear be true. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. ii. 33 If the Glass be true, With Daphnis I may vie. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lxxxv. 5 O true in word, and tried in deed.
e. Phr. true for you [after Ir. is fíor duit]: an expression of assent to something said by another. (Stressed on for.) Anglo-Ir.
1835R. M. Bird Hawks of Hawk-Hollow I. xix. 247 ‘You are Tapes, the pedler.’.. ‘True for you, captain Gilbert!’ cried the other, with a stare. 1901J. Barlow From Land of Shamrock 63 They would not, thrue for you. 1980J. O'Faolain No Country for Young Men xv. 329 You're right there... True for you.
f. Purporting to be true. Freq. in collocations used attrib. to designate popular magazines which contain (remarkable) stories which purport to be true, as true confessions, true story; also true-life story, etc.
1926A. Huxley Jesting Pilate iv. 260 He walked up and down the train..peddling..True Story Magazines. 1937[see pulp magazine s.v. pulp n. 5 c]. 1957C. MacInnes City of Spades ii. x. 170 Barbara was..reading a ‘true story’ magazine. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 7 Feb. 72/3 She writes well, and—somewhat unusually for a social worker—quotes poetry. She seasons her facts with many ‘true-life’ stories. 1965M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate vii. 303 Love, love-affairs, men and women and true-life stories formed the daily entertainment and talk of their week's travelling. 1967‘T. Wells’ What should you know of Dying? ii. 30 [She] was reading a true confessions magazine. I didn't think they even printed them any more.
g. Colloq. phr. so (..) it isn't true and varr.: to an almost incredible extent.
1963Daily Herald 25 Apr. 7/6 The Princess was so calm it wasn't true. She was so relaxed. 1964‘A. Garve’ Ashes of Loda i. 14 He's..so incompetent about ordinary day-to-day living it's just not true. 1970R. Rendell Guilty Thing Surprised ix. 103 You may be only thirty-six but you're so dead old-fashioned it isn't true. 1982Barr & York Official Sloane Ranger Handbk. 8/1 Sloane Britain is so heavily weighted towards the South and the West it's not true.
4. a. Agreeing with a standard, pattern, or rule; exact, accurate, precise; correct, right.
c1550Cheke Matt. x. 5 (1843) 46 An Apostol, if ye wold have y⊇ trutorn of y⊇ naam is as much to sai as a frosent. 1570Dee Math. Pref. a iv b, Of the Variacion of the Compas, from true North. 1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 77 Such as can scarcely read true English. 1651Hobbes Leviath. iii. xxxv. 217 The truest Translation is the first. 1674Ray Collect. Words, Smelting Silver 114 Where the furnace is come to a true temper of heat. a1721Prior Protogenes & Apelles 54 Apelles drew A Circle regularly true. 1782Cowper Gilpin 72 He..hung a bottle on each side To make his balance true. 1822J. Imison Sc. & Art I. 98 Clocks and watches..so regulated as to measure true equal time. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xcvi. 8 One indeed I knew..Who touch'd a jarring lyre at first, But ever strove to make it true.
b. In more general sense: Of the right kind, such as it should be, proper. (Cf. 5.)
1340–70Alex. & Dind. 513 Þat þou miht trystli trye þe treweste lawe... Þat þou miht..þe beste lawe kenne. 1435Coventry Leet Bk. 182 Yif the cardwiredrawer were..disseyued withe ontrewe wire..then wold he sey vnto the smythier..‘Sir, amende your honde, or, in feithe, I wille no more bye of you’. And then the smythier, lest he lost his Custemers, wolde make true goode. c1600Shakes. Sonn. lxii, Me thinkes no face so gratious is.., No shape so true. 1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 51 The Land in this Mannor is sound, rich, dry, and good, and that is the true Land to bear Flax. a1770Jortin Serm. (1771) II. i. 12 To place things in their true order. 1911H. Wace Proph. Jew. & Chr. v. 92 Facts thus placed in their true bearings.
c. That is rightly or lawfully such; rightful, legitimate.
c1400Destr. Troy 5411 How Thelaphus tide to be treu kyng. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. ii. 23 An Oath is of no moment, being not tooke Before a true and lawfull Magistrate. 1681Dryden Abs. & Achit. 921 The true successor from the court removed. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. 322 By the laws of nature the occupant and subduer of the soil is the true proprietor.
d. Accurately placed, fitted, or shaped; exact in position or form, as an instrument, a part of mechanism, or the like.
1474Coventry Leet Bk. 400 That his weyghtes be sised & sealed and true beme. 1551Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. xxiv, More easyly..may you..make any suche line with a true ruler. 1664Butler Hud. ii. iii. 1019 I'll make them serve for perpendiculars As true as e'er were us'd by bricklayers. 1726Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. I. 38/2 We must use a Square Rule..of a very large Size, that our strait Lines may be the truer. 1875Carpentry & Join. 43 A strip required to be cut and planed up perfectly true and even on its sides and ends. 1897Pemberton Compl. Cyclist 87 A wheel which will remain perfectly true.
e. true to: consistent with, exactly agreeing with, ‘faithful to’ (cf. 1 c). Also true to type.
a1735Arbuthnot (J.), A translation nicely true to the original. 1835Athenæum 16 May 372/1 Another character—true to life—is Mrs. Hollis, the fruiterer. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop i, Be true to your time in the morning. 1872J. M. Langford Let. 11 Mar. in Geo. Eliot Lett. (1956) V. 254 One feels them all to be true to life. 1883Morfill Slavonic Lit. i. 15 The dialects of a language are truer to its spirit than its literary form. 1885Athenæum 23 May 661/2 The incident is very true to life and graphically described. 1929Oxford Poetry 10 Say he died true to type: and then erect A cenotaph; he liked to be select. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 1 Mar. 80/2 This was indeed a true-to-type Devon: a good, compact animal with nice fleshing and conformation. 1980K. Follett Key to Rebecca xvii. 193 His preference for ‘true-to-life’ murders, as opposed to implausible country⁓house killings.
f. Conformable to reality, natural: = true to nature.
1870Huxley Lay Serm. i. 1 That truest of fictions, ‘The History of the Plague Year’. 1894S. G. Green in Sunday at H. June 527, I do not object to fiction provided it be true.
g. Remaining constant to type; not subject to variation. (Cf. C. 3 b.)
1839Darwin Voy. Nat. viii. (1873) 146 This breed is very true. 1859― Orig. Spec. iv. (1860) 84 Can we wonder, then, that Nature's productions should be far ‘truer’ in character than man's productions?
h. Of the wind: Steady, constant, uniform in direction and force.
1894Dundee Advertiser 11 July 6/1 The Britannia was now 400 yards ahead... The wind was continuing true.
i. Of bearings: measured relative to true North.
1834[see azimuth 2 a]. 1912[see projection n. 7 b]. 1969G. C. Dickinson Maps & Air Photographs viii. 125 Bearings measured relative to true north are called true bearings.
j. Of the ground or other surface prepared for ball games: free from unevenness, level and smooth.
1851in W. G. Grace W. G.'s Little Bk. (1909) i. 5 A man is but half a player who is only prepared for true grounds. 1895H. G. Hutchinson Golf (ed. 5) xii. 309 The putting-greens are very good and true. 1934W. J. Lewis Lang. Cricket 297 It [sc. the wicket] is said, with regard to its condition, to be hard when firm..plumb or true when it is perfectly level and the ball behaves normally. 1965L. R. Benaud Young Cricketer 86/1 Pitches of today seem to have changed from those of Bulli soil days..when..one played on a true, black, shiny strip as hard as concrete.
5. a. Real, genuine; rightly answering to the description; properly so called; not counterfeit, spurious, or imaginary; also, conforming or approaching to the ideal character of such.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. xlvii. (Bodl. MS.) lf. 176/2 Stones..þat bene fals..seme moste liche..to ham þat bene trew. [c1440Promp. Parv. 503/2 Trvwe, in belevynge, catholicus.] c1470Henry Wallace i. 22 His forbearis..Of hale lynage, and trew lyne of Scotland. 1526Tindale 1 John ii. 8 The darknes is past, and the true lyght nowe shyneth. 1535Coverdale 1 John v. 20 This is the true God, and euerlastinge life. 1562A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) i. 21 Caus his trew Kirk be had in reuerence. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xii. (Arb.) 43 Vntrue praise neuer giueth any true reputation. 1680Otway Orphan i. i, The World has not A truer Soldier, or a better Subject. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 598 He turns agen To his true Shape. 1781Cowper Truth 176 True Piety is cheerful as the day. 1828Scott F.M. Perth ii, The best armourer that ever made sword, and the truest soldier that ever drew one. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 16 It was thought that the flocks..would soon return to the true fold. 1854Moseley Astron. xx. (1874) 93 About the equinox the time of true noon precedes the time of mean noon. 1891Farrar Darkn. & Dawn liii, You may yet find the true criminals.
b. In scientific use: Conformable to the type, or to the accepted idea or character of the genus, class, or kind; properly or strictly so called.
1578Lyte Dodoens iii. lxviii. 408 True Maydenheare, Ladies heare, Venus heare. 1704F. Fuller Med. Gymn. (1711) 201 The true skin, and all its innumerable Glands. 1741Monro Anat. Bones (ed. 3) 222 The Ribs are commonly divided into True and False. The True Costæ are the seven superior of each Side. 1809Med. Jrnl. XXI. 274 In all cases of true hydrophobia. 1841Penny Cycl. XXI. 415/1 The Lanianæ, or true Shrikes. 1855Phillips Man. Geol. 513 Masses of true granite. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 825 True nerve tumours are exceedingly rare.
c. true bill (in Law), a bill of indictment found by a Grand Jury to be supported by sufficient evidence to justify the hearing of a case: see bill n.3 4. Hence allusively, a true statement or charge (true being loosely taken in sense 3).
1591Lambarde Eiren. iv. v. 484 An Enditement in their [Jurors'] finding of a Bill of accusation to be true. 1659Termes de la Ley 135 b, Indictment..is a Bill..exhibited by way of accusation..and preferred unto Jurors, and by their verdict found presented to be true before a Judge. 1769Blackstone Comm. IV. xxiii. 305 If they [the grand jury] are satisfied of the truth of the accusation, they then endorse upon it, ‘a true bill’; antiently, ‘billa vera’. The indictment is then said to be found. 1809Malkin Gil Blas ix. vi. (Rtldg.) 321 Him they taxed with the plotted massacre, and the bill was a true one. 1852Smedley L. Arundel lii, A true bill, by all that's unlucky!
d. true left (or true right): the side which is on the left (or right) as one looks down from a hill or mountain, or downstream.
1910J. Buchan Prester John x. 177 We followed a narrow shelf on its left side (or ‘true right’, as mountaineers would call it). 1929― Courts of Morning iii. iv. 344 Six men were perched high up among the rocks on the right side (what mountaineers would call the ‘true left’) of the couloir. 1971N.Z. Listener 19 Apr. 55/2 An acquaintance asked..what the reporter had meant by the ‘true left’ bank of the river. I explained that it was the one on the lefthand side as you looked downstream.
B. n. (absol. use of the adj.)
†1.
a. A faithful, loyal, or trusty person; a ‘true man’. Obs.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2354 Trwe mon [= must] trwe restore. c1400Destr. Troy 11976 A! traytor vntrew, how toke þou on honde Þat trew to be-tray? c1470Golagros & Gaw. 356 Thus with trety ye cast yon trew vndre tyld.
b. spec. (With capital initial.) Nickname for a member of the Protestant or Whig party in the 17th c.: cf. true blue (see blue n. 8). Obs.
a1734North Exam. ii. v. §68. (1740) 357 Most of the eminent Fanatics in England, with all their Trues and True-blues.
2. the true: That which is true; truth, reality.
1812Crabbe Tales xi. 388 If sleep one moment closed the dismal view, Fancy her terrors built upon the true. 1874Geo. Eliot Coll. Breakf. P. 13 Yearning for that True Which has no qualities.
3. Accurate position or adjustment (in phr. out of true or the true): cf. sense 4 d above, and truth n. 6. Hence out-of-true n., the extent to which a part is out of exact alignment. Cf. truth n. 6.
1876J. Rose Compl. Pract. Machinist vi. 86 If the face plate of the lathe is a trifle out of true, the eccentric will only be out to an equal amount. 1890W. J. Gordon Foundry 51 The bottom member would be out of the true as it expanded unequally. 1895J. T. Usher Mod. Machinist xxi. 199 The eccentric is..held on the arbor while it is being turned in precisely the same way as it is held on the crank-shaft or axle of the engine, thereby avoiding the tendency to spring it out of true after it is turned, which often happens when it is held for turning by other means. 1970K. Ball Fiat 600, 600D Autobook vi. 59/1 The out-of-true at bearing seats must not exceed ·0008 inch.
C. adv.
1. Faithfully; † honestly; † confidently: = truly 1, 2.
1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 1912 Þere ys no solas vndyr heuene..Þat shuld a man so moche glew As a gode womman þat loueþ trew. 13..[see B. 1]. a1425Cursor M. 4913 (Trin.) Þing þat we truly bouȝt And so is oure trewe geten þing. c1470Henry Wallace i. 86 Ressawide he was and trastyt werray trew. c1555,1633[see true-dealing, true-meaning, in D. 2].
2. In accordance with fact; truthfully; rightly: = truly 3.
a1300Cursor M. 18420 (Cott.), I hight þe tru þat þou þis ilk dai sal be..in paradis wit me. c1450Merlin i. 7 The gode woman that spake with me seyde full trewe. 1526Tindale John xix. 35 He knoweth that he sayth true. 1638Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II.) 142 Tell mee true, Did you not [etc.]? 1711Addison Spect. No. 58 ⁋13 If he tells me true. 1883Athenæum 17 Feb. 217/1 If report speak true.
3. a. Exactly, accurately, correctly: = truly 4.
1530Palsgr. 698/2 Sauf vostre grace, or saulue vostre grace, for I fynde bothe, but saulue is trewer written. 1660H. Bloome Archit. A c, Sima being made true Square. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 35 They shoot at a mark very true with a Bow and Arrow. 1765Wesley Wks. (1872) XIV. 335, I want the people called Methodists to sing true the tunes..in common use. 1835Sir J. Ross Narr. 2nd Voy. viii. 119 The wind had continued true north. 1850Lynch Theo. Trin. xii. 232 Thy love in ours is imaged true As skies in water clear.
b. In agreement with the ancestral type; without variation: in phr. to breed true. (Cf. A. 4 g.)
1859Darwin Orig. Spec. i. (1860) 19 Every race that breeds true. 1868― Anim. & Pl. I. vii. 242 The Spanish breed has long been known to breed true. 1912Chambers's Jrnl. Dec. 810/2 Each variety breeds ‘true’ in breeders' parlance. 1967Listener 3 Aug. 142/1 But there are two regularities which are equally impressive: organisms breed true, and their structures are orderly.
4. Really, genuinely; authentically. (Cf. truly 5.)
a1586,1847[see true-felt, true-heroic, in D. 2]. 1895Daily News 17 Dec. 5/1 Miss Rushton does not say what paper or letter is true signed.
D. Combinations.
1. The adj. in comb.:
a. parasynthetic, as true-blooded, true-breasted, true-eyed, true-paced, true-souled, true-spirited, true-stamped (having the true stamp, genuine), true-toned, true-tongued adjs.: see also true-hearted;
b. with other adjs., as true-like, true-seeming;
c. with ns.: true-metal a., like that of genuine metal; † true-stitch, a kind of embroidery exactly alike on both sides (obs.); true-tongue, one having a true tongue, a truthful person, truth-teller; † true-wit (tru-witt), a genuinely witty person, a real ‘wit’ (obs.).
1818Cobbett Pol. Reg. XXXIII. 598 They are more *true-blooded.
16051st Pt. Ieronimo i. iii, O my *true brested father.
1883Mrs. Plunkett in Harper's Mag. Jan. 240/2 Some *true-eyed artist.
1588Fraunce Lawiers Log. i. ii. 5 Plato..ascribeth truth to God and Gods children, leaving nothing but *truelike to mortall men.
1611Shakes. Cymb. i. vi. 166 He is one The *truest manner'd.
1868J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. I. 449 This is the *true-metal ring of the Book of Common Prayer.
1648Herrick Hesper., Fare-well to Sack 35 Before they sing Their *true-pac'd numbers.
1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 38 The falsest twoo, And fittest for to forge *true-seeming lyes. 1824Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 222 The equally apocryphal but still truer-seeming History of the Plague.
1854Grace Greenwood Haps & Mishaps 37 A *true-souled old man.
1684Otway Atheist i. i, A dozen..jolly, *true-spirited..Friends.
1678Dryden All for Love i. i, The..rugged Virtue Of an old *true-stampt Roman.
1598B. Jonson Case is Altered ii. iii, What, *true-stitch, sister! both your sides alike! 1664Hawkins Youths Behav. ii. 7 True-Stitch, Sattin stitch, Queen-stitch [etc.].
1907Daily Chron. 21 Nov. 5/3 Her..E flat rang out clear and perfect like a *true-toned bell.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. iii. 320 Thanne worth *trewe-tonge a tidy man þat tened me neuere.
c1369Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 927 Of eloquence was neuer founde So swete a sownynge facounde, Ne *trewer tonged.
1651Charleton Ephes. & Cimm. Matrons ii. (1668) 60 Transformed from an Ideot, a Bartholmew-Cokes, a Clown, to a Bon Esprit, a Virtuoso, a *Truwitt.
d. Appositively: true–false a. Educ. and Psychol., denoting a type of test question constructed so that only the words ‘true’ or ‘false’ (or another pair of opposites) are acceptable responses; characterizing a test that uses this technique.
1923P. B. Ballard New Examiner vii. 80 The new examination comprised three tests, the first of which was of the True–False type. 1957D. L. Bolinger in Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxviii. 24 Yes–no Qs are essentially true–false Qs. 1965N. E. Gronlund Measurement & Eval. in Teaching viii. 127 Some of the variations..deviate considerably from the simple true—false pattern. 1974in H. G. Macintosh Techniques & Probl. Assessment iii. 25 Other word pairs relating to the statement such as ‘greater than–less than’..‘faster–slower’ and so on. It is the possibilities offered by these other pairs which make the true/false form a particularly useful one.
2. The adv. in comb.:
a. with ppl. adjs., as true-begotten, true-dealing, true-derived, true-devoted, true-disposing, true-divining, true-felt, true-made, true-meaning, true-meant, true-ringing, true-run, true-speaking, true-spelling, true-strung; see also true-born, -bred;
b. with other adjs., as true-heroic, true-noble, true-sweet, true-sublime.
1596Shakes. Merch. V. ii. ii. 36 O heauens, this is my *true begotten Father. 1708S. Centlivre Busie Body i. i, He..scarce believes there's a true-begotten child in the city.
c1555Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (Camden) 94 Like an honest *true-dealing man.
1594Shakes. Rich. III, iii. vii. 200 To draw forth your Noble Ancestrie..Vnto a Lineall *true deriued course.
1591― Two Gent. ii. vii. 9 A *true-deuoted Pilgrime is not weary To measure Kingdomes with his feeble steps.
1594― Rich. III, iv, iv. 55 O vpright, iust, and *true-disposing God.
1588― Tit. A. ii. iii. 214 To proue thou hast a *true diuining heart.
a1586Sidney Arcadia i. (1622) 40 Such tokens of *true-felt sorrow.
1847Tennyson Princess Concl., Why Not make her *true-heroic—true-sublime?
1598Drayton Heroic. Ep., O. Tudor to Q. Cath. 44 By Frances conquest, and by Englands oth, You are the *true made dowager of both.
1633T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter ii. 18 A thief lighting into *true-meaning company.
1603Shakes. Meas. for M. i. iv. 55 Of an infinite distance From his *true meant designe.
1601Chester Love's Mart., Poet Ess. Title-p., The *true-noble Knight.
1907Daily Chron. 23 Feb. 3/2 These *true-ringing, rough-hewn epistles.
1893Bailey's Mag. Oct. 273/1 Was the race a *true-run one?
1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 290 The opinion of any one *true speaking man.
1604Middleton Father Hubburd's T. Wks. (Bullen) VIII. 53 A *true-spelling printer.
1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. Furies 55 This mighty World did seem an Instrument *True-strung, well-tun'd.
1593–4― Profit Imprisonm. 766 That this world's fained sweet..Should be preferr'd before these seeming-sowrs, that make us Taste many *true-sweet sweets.
c1600Shakes. Sonn. lxxxii, Thy *true telling friend.
1821Clare Vill. Minstr. (1823) I. 26 *True-thought legends.
▪ II. true, v.
[f. true a.]
†1. trans. To prove true, verify. Obs. rare—1.
1647Ward Simp. Cobler (1843) 81 Easilier told than tryed or trued.
2. To make true, as a piece of mechanism or the like; to place, adjust, or shape accurately; to give the precise required form or position to; to make accurately or perfectly straight, level, round, smooth, sharp, etc. as required. Often with up.
1841Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. IV. 234/1 An apparatus for ‘truing up’ the wheels of carriages and engines on railways. 1875Knight Dict. Mech., Marble-finishing Machine, one for truing and molding the edges of marble slabs for mantels, tables, etc. 1881Greener Gun 267 The common barrels are done at half the cost of the best..by grinding them without turning and trueing them in the lathe. 1888Hasluck Model Engin. Handybk. (1900) 84 The next thing is to true up the valve-face on the cylinder.
Hence ˈtruing vbl. n. (also attrib.).
1851–4Tomlinson Cycl. Arts (1867) II. 40/1 The trueing of the lenses..being completed, the polishing is next proceeded with. 1877Knight Dict. Mech., Truing-tool, a device for truing the face of a grindstone, or any other surface. 1897Pemberton Compl. Cyclist iii. 82 [The ‘jointless’ rim] takes even less trueing than a good wood rim.
▪ III. † true
variant of trewe Obs., tribute.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 5605 Þe true to Rome gyue he [Arviragus] nolde, For he dedeyned of hem to holde.
▪ IV. true
obs. form of trow v., truce. |