Now arch. Forms: 1–2 soð, 1, 3–5 soþ (3 soh, seoþ, 4 soiþ, sooþ), 4–6 soth (4 sotht), 5– sooth; 3 soðe, 4–5 soþe, 4–6 sothe, southe, 5–6 soothe; Sc. (and north.) 4–8 suth (6 swth), 5–7 suith (6 soyt, soith, suythe, suitht, 7 suithe). [OE. sóð neut., = OS. sóđ (cf. ON. sannr, saðr masc.), f. the adj.: see next.]
In common use down to the first half of the 17th cent.; after this app. obsolete (except perh. in sense 4 c) until revived as a literary archaism, chiefly by Scott and contemporary writers.
I. Without article.
1. Truth, verity. (Cf. SOOTH a. 2 a.) Also personif.
Beowulf, 1700. Se þe soð and riht fremeð on folce.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Matt., Int. 1/13. ʓif … soð [L. veritas] is to soeccenna of moniʓum.
a. 1000. Elene, 307 (Gr.). Swa ʓe modblinde mengan ongunnon liʓe wið soðe.
a. 1122. O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1091. Se eorl … litel soðes … of heora forewarde onfand.
c. 1200. Ormin, 14208. To flittenn Fra woh till rihht, fra læs till soþ.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 950. Þe heorte … so uorleost al his lyht Þat ho ne syhþ soþ ne riht.
c. 1300. Havelok, 36. He louede god … And holi kirke, and soth, ant ricth.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter v. 11. Vndire colour of soth bryngand in falshed.
a. 1400. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., II. 577. Wraþþe destruyeþ monnes wit, Whon soþ may not beo seiȝene.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 188. Hit was said oft sythes and for sothe holden.
1593. Nashe, Christ’s Tears, To Rdr. Wks. (Grosart), IV. 8. They shall be prouided for sumptuously, when sooth and verity may walke melancholy in Marke Lane.
1611. Heywood, Gold. Age, II. i. D 4. Simplenesse and sooth, The harmelesse Chace, and strict Virginity Is all our practise.
1875[?]. Tennyson, Holy Grail, 709. Was there sooth in Arthur’s prophecy?
b. Used as object to the verbs say, speak or tell; freq. in the parenthetic phrases sooth to say, etc. (Cf. 5 b.)
(a) a. 900. Cynewulf, Crist, 1306. Hwæþer … mon soð þe lyʓe saʓaþ on hine sylfne.
c. 1055. Byrhtferth’s Handboc, in Anglia, VIII. 300. Ac we heom secgað soð tosoðe.
a. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 9. Me ne net me noht te forsweriȝen, ac soð te seggen of ðan ðe ic am bicleped.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 217. Vle, heo seyde, seye me soþ, hwi dostu þat vnwihtes doþ.
c. 1300. Havelok, 2008. Quoth Ubbe, ‘Bernard, seyst þou soth?’
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 285. Tell me soth And sei the trouthe, if [etc.].
c. 1450. Merlin, i. 7. Ye seyde me soth that my suster set but lytill prise of me.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Æsop, V. xii. My broder, thow sayst soothe, wherfore I thanke the moche.
1594. Greene & Lodge, Looking Gl., G.’s Wks. (Rtldg.), 132/1. Say sooth in secret, Radagon, Is this thy father?
1625. Milton, On Death Infant, 51. Or wert thou that just Maid who once before Forsook the hated earth, O tell me sooth.
1642. Jer. Taylor, Episc. (1647), 196. I am sure I have said sooth, but whether or no it will be thought so, I cannot tell.
1819. Scott, Ivanhoe, xxviii. ‘Thou art speaking but sooth, Rebecca,’ said Isaac.
1897. Mrs. E. L. Voynich, Gadfly (1904), 51/1. So long as I keep to the particular set…, I may speak sooth if the fancy takes me.
(b) c. 1320. Sir Tristr., 2206. Tristrem lepe, ywis, Þritti fete, soþ to say.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Wife’s Prol., 601. He was, I trowe, a twenty wynter oold, And I was fourty, if I shal seye sooth.
1508. Dunbar, Gold. Targe, 198. The salt was all the sarar, suth to sayn.
1577. trans. Bullinger’s Decades (1592), 653. And to saie sooth, they doe not worship God at all.
1626. R. Harris, Hezekiah’s Recovery (1630), 6. To speake sooth, most of us have small reason to glorie in our prayers; they be too faint, too few, too much overrun with pride and unbeleefe.
1808. Scott, Marm., I. xxvi. And, sooth to tell, He murmur’d on till morn.
1813. Hogg, Queen’s Wake, 24. The wine was served, and, sooth to say, Insensibly it stole away.
1855. H. Rogers, Ess. (1874), II. vii. 323. Sooth to tell, the narrative of the achievements here and there draws largely on our faith.
† c. To come to sooth, to come true, be fulfilled.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 4831. After seint austines day to soþe come al Þis [prophecy]. Ibid., 6740. Al to soþe it is icome þat sein dunston gan telle.
† 2. Used adverbially in the genitive singular sooths: Of a truth, truly. Obs.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. v. 26. Soþes ic secge þe [etc.].
a. 1240. Ureisun, in O. E. Hom., I. 185. Nis nan blisse soþes i nan þing þet is utewið þet ne beo to bitter aboht. Ibid. Ȝe soþes. Ibid., 187. Nai soþes, nai. Ne wene hit neuer no mon.
3. In prepositional phrases or constructions having an adverbial force: In truth, truly, really. (See also FORSOOTH adv.)
† a. To (…) sooth. Obs.
Beowulf, 51 (Gr.). Men ne cunnon secgan to soðe … hwa þæm hlæste onfeng!
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. (Thorpe), cxviii. 144. Syle me ða to soðe, and ic syþþan lifiʓe.
c. 1200. Ormin, 10900. Þatt wass, witt tu to fulle soþ, Fullfremedd herrsummnesse.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 190. Wute ȝe þet to soðe þet [etc.].
c. 1305. St. Kenelm, 277, in E. E. P. (1862), 55. Þo þe pope to soþe wiste what was þe tokninge [etc.].
† b. Mid or with (…) sooth. Obs.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., x. Ne meaht þu no mid soðe ʓetælan þine wyrd.
971. Blickl. Hom., 17. He him ʓehet his æriste, swa he þa mid soðe ʓefylde.
c. 1205. Lay., 2181. To gædere comen mid soðe … Locrin & Camber.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 264. Lust hw ich con me bitelle Mid rihte soþe wiþ vte spelle.
c. In sooth.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 315. The Mirour scheweth … As he hadde al the world withinne, And is in soth nothing therinne.
1592. Lodge, Euphues Shadow, C 1 b. Who so thou be that vertue wilt ensew, More sweete in sooth then show in true releefe.
1670. Moral State Eng., 62 b. And to shew this is in sooth, I bite this green wax with my Tooth.
1812. Byron, Ch. Har., II. lxiii. So sings the Teian, and he sings in sooth.
4. In phrases used expletively or parenthetically to strengthen or emphasize an assertion.
a. In (or † to) sooth.
c. 1300. Beket, 2118. ‘To Sothe,’ quath this holi man, ‘prest ich am therto.’
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), xxiii. 251. And in soothe, o man allone in this Contree wil ete more in a day, than [etc.].
a. 1450. Pol., Rel., & L. Poems (1903), 78. In sothe too me the matire queynte is; For as too hem i toke none hede.
1586. A. Day, Eng. Secretary, II. (1625), 61. To deliuer … what hee saw meetest to the purpose, and that in sooth with so deliberate … resolution, as [etc.].
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., III. i. 260. Sweare me … A good mouth-filling Oath: and leaue in sooth.
1605. Camden, Rem., 190. But if I haue any skill in South-saying, (as in sooth I haue none).
a. 1652. Brome, Damoiselle, II. i. Ver[mine]. What canst thou be? Phil[lis]. Insooth a Gentlewoman.
1771. Beattie, Minstr., I. xxviii. In sooth t’was almost all the shepherd knew.
1808. Scott, Marm., I. xv. Or was the gentle page, in sooth, A gentle paramour?
1871. B. Taylor, Faust (1875), II. II. 141. I’ve never seen their like, in sooth.
b. In good or very sooth. Also with ellipsis of in.
1577. Harrison, England, II. v. (1877), I. 132. In good sooth I cannot tell.
1586. B. Young, trans. Guazzo’s Civ. Conv., IV. 220 b. Know thou my good gossip, how in good sooth this night my hog is stolen awaie.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., II. ii. 129. Good troth you do me wrong (good-sooth you do).
1656. Sanderson, Serm. (1689), 92. Say now I beseech you in good sooth … at whose door lieth the Superstition?
1808. Scott, Marm., I. xx. ‘Now, in good sooth,’ Lord Marmion cried.
a. 1839. Praed, Poems (1864), I. 6. Or the Dragon had been, in very sooth, No insignificant charmer.
1849. G. P. R. James, Woodman, xi. Good sooth, I know nothing of life.
1872. Longf., Wayside Inn, III. Emma & Eginhard, 73. In good sooth, Its mystery is love.
c. By my, your, etc. (good) sooth. Also with ellipsis of by.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 2286. ‘Sirres, by my sothe,’ quod þe segge, ‘Sitiles I hiȝt.’
1526. Skelton, Magnyf., 354. Fan. I trowe, by our lady, I had ben slayne…. Magn. By your soth?
1596. Harington, Metam. Ajax (1814), 125. By my good sooth.
a. 1779. D. Graham, Yng. Coalman’s Courtship, II. (1786), 9. By me suth it will be the last thing I will part wi’.
1786. Burns, To a Louse, v. My sooth! right bauld ye set your nose out. Ibid. (1789), Willie brew’d, iii. But, by my sooth, she’ll wait a wee!
1822. Scott, Nigel, xiv. My sooth, they will jump at them in Edinburgh like a cock at a grosart.
II. With article (or pronoun).
5. a. The sooth, the truth; the real or actual facts, circumstances, etc.
Common from c. 1300 to c. 1560; now arch.
c. 897. K. Ælfred, trans. Gregory’s Past. C., xlvi. 347. Ne flitað mid eowrum leasungum wið ðæm soðe.
a. 1000. Sal. & Sat., 182 (Gr.). Wyrs deð se ðe … ðæs soðes ansæceð!
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 71. We shule … no þing seien þere þat les beo and no þing of þe soðe forlete.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2036. Ðe wite is hise, ðe right is hire, God al-migtin ðe soðe shire.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 777. Þe south fra ȝow wil I noght hide.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Wife’s T., 75. He goth ful neigh the soth.
c. 1400. Maundev., Trav. (1839), xxi. 224. Natheles the Sothe is this, that [etc.].
c. 1450. Merlin, ii. 37. I will knowe the soth, what-so-euer it coste.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 72. It is yll iestyng on the soothe.
a. 1592. Greene, Jas. IV., III. iii. Mark the sooth and listen the intent.
1616. W. Haig, in J. Russell, Haigs (1881), vii. 163. How far my accuser is from the sooth in charging me with this imputation.
1868. Morris, Earthly Par. (1870), I. I. 235. In his face the sooth they might behold.
b. With the verbs say, speak, tell, etc.; freq. in parenthetic phrases. (Cf. 1 b.)
(a) a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 153. Sone se hire sonde com aȝein, & seide hire þe soðe, heo [etc.].
a. 1300. Cursor M., 3855. Sir, þe soth i wil þe tell.
13[?]. Meditations Lord’s Supper, 95. The soþe to ȝou y seye, One of ȝow shal me betraye.
c. 1440. Generydes, 507. Telle me the sothe.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 52. Sen thow speiris, I the tell All the suith hale.
c. 1568. Coverdale, Ghostly Psalms, Wks. (Parker Soc.), II. 587. Though God make the to saye the soth.
1609. Skene, Reg. Maj., Treat., 74. The assisours sal sweir … that they sall the suth say, and na suth conceill.
(b) 1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 28. He ligges at Wynchestre, þe soth it is to seie.
a. 1366[?]. Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 1463. Spryngyng in a marble stone Had nature set, the sothe to telle, Under that pyn tree a welle.
c. 1400. Sowdone Bab., 897. This day haue we a ful ille afraye, To saie the south and not to lye.
1513. Bradshaw, St. Werburge, Prol. 40. Some in contemplacyon, the sothe to say, Some in abstynence [etc.].
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 166. To bee a thyng out of perauentures hard to dooe, yea and (the south to saye) vtterly vnpossible.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., III. vi. 151. To say the sooth,… My people are with sicknesse much enfeebled.
1805. Scott, Last Minstrel, I. Introd. 57. He thought even yet, the sooth to speak, That, if [etc.].
c. Const. of something.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 75. Sche tolde unto hir housebonde The sothe of al the hole tale.
1423. James I., Kingis Q., 137. The warld … is so double and inconstant, Off quhich the suth is kid be mony assayes.
a. 1500. Lancelot, 1213. Ther the suth may we Knaw of this thing.
c. 1550. Rolland, Crt. Venus, III. 358. Schaw me the suith of this now gif ȝe can.
a. 1592. Greene, Jas. IV., I. i. 359. To scorne the sooth of science with contempt.
1870. Morris, Earthly Par., III. IV. 202. The old man doubted not the sooth Of what he said.
† 6. A true thing or saying; a truth. Obs.
sing. c. 1200. Ormin, 13706. Forr þatt he wollde winnenn Off Cristess muþ summ openn soþ Off hiss goddcunnde mahhte.
c. 1305. St. Andrew, 39, in E. E. P. (1862), 99. If þu woldest þat soþe ihure, and if þu riȝt vnderstode.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Sqr.’s T., 166. This is a verray sooth withouten glose.
c. 1430. Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, I. xliv. (1869), 26. Jrous folk … mown not discerne cleerliche a sooth for here trowblede vnderstondinge.
1603. Harsnet, Pop. Impost., 112. The hunting of the Witch heere [is] no fabulous apprehension but a good Catholique Sooth.
1609. Skene, Reg. Maj., Burrow Lawes, 136. That they sall suth … say, and na suth conceill.
1640–1. Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855), 141. That ilk ane of thame shall the right suithe say and nae suithe conceal.
plur. 13[?]. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., lv. xxv. 1. Whon alle soþes ben souht and seene.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Melib., ¶ 211. Thou schalt rather … flee fro the swete wordes of flaterers, then fro the egre wordes of thy frend that saith the thi sothes.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour (1868), 124. To telle hym his sothes & trouthe withoute flaterie.
† b. A certainty of a matter. Obs. rare.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, V. 1295. Thorugh whiche thow shalt wel bryngen it aboute To knowe a soth of that thow ert in doute. Ibid., 1309.
† c. A proverb or adage. Obs.–1
1655. H. Vaughan, Silex Scint., II. 179. ‘Hedges have ears,’ saith the old sooth.
† 7. Soothsaying; prognostication. Obs.
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., Dec., 87. Tryed time yet taught me greater thinges…: The soothe of byrds by beating of their wings.
1582. Stanyhurst, Æneis, III. (Arb.), 85. Post to this prophetesse, let her help and sooth be required.
III. † 8. Associated with senses of the verb SOOTHE: Blandishment, flattery; a smooth or plausible word or speech. Also personif. Obs.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., III. iii. 136. That ere this tongue of mine, That layd the Sentence of dread Banishment On yond prowd man, should take it off againe With words of sooth. Ibid. (1608), Pericles, I. ii. 44. When signior sooth here does proclaime peace, He flatters you, makes warre vpon your life.
1609. B. Jonson, Sil. Woman, V. ii. With a sooth or two more I had effected it.
