truth

truth [tro͞oth]

n.

pl. truths [tro͞othz, tro͞oths] [ME treuthe < OE treowth: see TRUE & -TH¹]

1. the quality or state of being true; specif.,

a) Obs. loyalty; trustworthiness

b) sincerity; genuineness; honesty

c) the quality of being in accordance with experience, facts, or reality; conformity with fact

d) reality; actual existence

e) agreement with a standard, rule, etc.; correctness; accuracy

2. that which is true; statement, etc. that accords with fact or reality

3. an established or verified fact, principle, etc.

4. a particular belief or teaching regarded by the speaker as the true one: often with the

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in truth

truly; in fact

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of a truth

certainly

SYN.- TRUTH suggests conformity with the facts or with reality, either as an idealized abstraction [“What is truth?” said Pilate ] or in actual application to statements, ideas, acts, etc. [there is no truth in that rumor ]; VERACITY, as applied to persons or to their utterances, connotes habitual adherence to the truth [I cannot doubt your veracity]; VERITY, as applied to things, connotes correspondence with fact or with reality [the verity of that thesis ]; VERISIMILITUDE, as applied to literary or artistic representations, suggests a degree of plausibility sufficient to induce audience belief [the characterizations in that novel lack verisimilitude] -ANT. FALSENESS, FALSITY