Truth and Troth Are the Same Word
Truth is conformity with fact. The old marriage vow to plight your troth uses the same word in an older form.
Truth is conformity with fact or reality. The Old English *treowth* meant faithfulness and loyalty rather than factual accuracy — a person was *true* by keeping faith, not by being correct. That older sense survives in *troth*, the same word in a different form, preserved in the marriage vow *I plight thee my troth*, meaning I pledge you my faithfulness. The shift from loyalty to accuracy happened gradually, and *betrothed* still carries the pledge sense.
- Conformity with fact. *The truth of it.*
- Troth — a pledge. *Plight my troth.*
- Betrothed — engaged. *Betrothed.*
- True — the adjective. *True.*
- Old English — *treowth*, faithfulness. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | truth | The truth. |
| Plural | truths | Truths. |
| Adjective | true | True. |
| Adjective | truthful | Truthful. |
| Archaic | troth | Troth. |
- Tell me the truth.Fact.
- I plight thee my troth.Vow.
- Treowth meant faithfulness.Etymology.
The treow family
- Truth — originally faithfulness, now factual accuracy
- Troth — the older form, kept in marriage vows
- Betroth — to pledge in marriage
- Trust — confidence, from the same Germanic root
- Truce — a pledge of good faith
Old English *treowth*, faithfulness or fidelity, from *treowe*, faithful, the ancestor of *true*.
What does plight my troth mean?
To pledge my faithfulness. Troth is an older form of truth, back when the word meant loyalty rather than factual accuracy.
Did truth always mean factual?
No. In Old English it meant faithfulness. The factual sense developed gradually and eventually became dominant.