true

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This is what I call the true (and, perhaps, alas! the rare) independence of him who devotes himself to letters.

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Definitions (74)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (23)

  1. adjective Consistent with fact or reality; not false or erroneous. See Synonyms at real1. See Usage Note at fact.
  2. adjective Truthful.
  3. adjective Real; genuine. See Synonyms at authentic.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (33)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • This is what I would classify as a true, brute-force cracking utility! —  Maximum Security -- Ch 10 -- Password Crackers
  • Now that's what I call a true relationship fuelled by pure love and undying support.
  • PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad: Political leader of the Trinidad and Tobago opposition United National Congress (UNC), Basdeo Panday, broke the party's code against speaking about its internal politics in public on Monday night, launching a public campaign to expose what he referred to as the true intentions of dissident party members Jack Warner and Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj. —  Caribbean Net News Daily Headlines
  • Ǭ † To add insult to injury, local governments are not able to levy adequate penalties on what I call the true? —  Too Conservative
  • As if, on the contrary, that action which he describes as the true element of man, were not directly connected with the incessant multiplication of wants. —  Diderot and the Encyclopædists Volume II.
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

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Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

real ·  natural ·  possible

Used in the same contextWord Family

true:   truer ·  truest
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English trewe, from Old English trēowe, firm, trustworthy; see deru- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. Early modern English also trew, trewe; from Middle English true, truwe, treue, trewe, triwe, treowe, from Anglo-Saxon treówe, try¯we (also getreówe, getry¯we) = Old Saxon triuwi = OFries. triuwe = Dutch trouw = Middle Low German truwe, Low German trou = Old High German *triuwi, Middle High German triuwe, German treu (also Old High German gitriuwi, Middle High German getriuwe, German getreu) = Icelandic tryggr, trūr = Swedish trogen = Danish tro = Gothic (Moesogothic) triggws, true; from a root (Teutonictru, Aryan √ dru) seen also in trow, trust, etc., and in Old Prussian druwi, druwis, faith, druwīt, believe. Hence ult. true, n., truce, truth, troth, etc. Cf. also trow, trust, and trig.
  2. from Middle English truwe, tru, trewe, from Anglo-Saxon treów, also treówa. trūwa, truth, faith, fidelity, compact, = Old Saxon trewa = OFries. triuwe = Middle Low German truwe, trouwe, Low German troue = Old High German triuwa, Middle High German triuwe, German treue = Swedish Danish tro, truth, faithfulness, = Gothic (Moesogothic) triggwa, a covenant (later Italian tregua = Spanish tregua = Portuguese tregoa = Provencal tregua = Old French trive, trieve, French trêve, a truce; cf. treague); from the adjective, Anglo-Saxon treówe, etc., true, faithful: see true, adjective Hence the plural trues, now truce as a singular.
  3. from true, n. Cf. trow.
 

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/tru/
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