true

true [tro͞o]

adj.

truer, truest [ME treue < OE treowe < treow, faith, akin to Ger treu < IE * drew-, var. of base * deru- > TREE: basic sense “firm (as a tree)”]

1. faithful; loyal; constant

2. reliable; certain [a true indication]

3. in accordance with fact; that agrees with reality; not false

4.

a) conforming to an original, pattern, rule, standard, etc.

b) exact; accurate; right; correct

5. rightful; lawful; legitimate [the true heirs]

6. accurately fitted, placed, or shaped [a door that is not true to the frame]

7.

a) real; genuine; authentic [a true diamond]

b) conforming to the ideal character or having all the basic characteristics of such; rightly so called [a true scholar]

8. determined by the poles of the earth's axis, not by the earth's magnetic poles [true north]

9. Archaic honest, virtuous, or truthful

adv.

truer, truest

1. in a true manner; truly, truthfully, accurately, etc.

2. Biol. with the same inherited trait or traits as a parent; without variation [to breed true]

vt.

trued, truing or trueing

to fit, place, or shape accurately: often with up

n.

that which is true; truth or reality: with the

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come true

to happen in fulfillment of an expectation, prediction, wish, etc.; become a realized fact

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in true

properly set, adjusted, aligned, etc.; exact

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out of true

not properly set, adjusted, aligned, etc.; inexact

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true to form

behaving as might be expected

trueness

n.

SYN.- TRUE, ACTUAL, and REAL¹ are often used interchangeably to imply correspondence with fact, but in discriminating use, TRUE implies conformity with a standard or model [a true democrat ] or with what actually exists [a true story ], ACTUAL stresses existence or occurrence and is, hence, strictly applied to concrete things [actual and hypothetical examples ], and REAL¹ highlights a distinction between what something is and what a substitute, counterfeit, etc. seems or pretends to be [real rubber, real courage ]