Forms: α. 1 (ʓe)triewe), 1–3 tréowe, 1–4 trýwe, 3 treouwe, 3–4 triwe, 3–7 trewe, trew, 4–7 treu, 5 treewe, triew(e. β. 3 (Orm.) trowwe, 5 trowe, 5–6 trow; 5 traw. γ. 3–5 truwe, 4–5 trwe, 4–7 tru, 6 trw, 5– true. [OE. (strict WS. (ʓe)triewe, commonly) tréowe (ME. also truwe) = OS. (gi)trûui, OEFris. triuwe, OWFris. trouwe, (MDu. (ghe)trûwe, (ghe)trouwe, Du. getrouw), OHG. (ga)triuwu, (Ger. treu), ON. tryggr, Goth. triggws; deriv. of OE. sb. tréow:—WGer. *trewwia f., lit. ‘having or characterized by good faith,’ deriv. of sb. OE. tréow, trúw, OHG. triuwa, Goth. triggwa faith, good faith, covenant: see TRUCE.]
1. Of persons: Steadfast in adherence to a commander or friend, to a principle or cause, to one’s promises, faith, etc.; firm in allegiance; faithful, loyal, constant, trusty. Somewhat arch.
a. 1000. St. Guthlac, 1269 (Gr.). Se wuldormaʓo … spræc … to his treowum ʓesiðe.
c. 1205. Lay., 8851. Mildeliche spæc þus Þe treowe cniht Androgeus.
c. 1250. Hymn Virg., 2, in Trin. Coll. Hom., App. 257. Þu ert leuedi swuþe treowe … Þi loue is euer iliche neowe.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 2320. May y þan trust to þy sawe Þat þou be now my trew felawe?
1388. Wyclif, Luke xvi. 10. He that is trewe in the leeste thing, is trewe also in the more.
1450–80. trans. Secreta Secret., 19. Kepe wel thi feith and thi word euermore … gret worshipe vnto hem þat so trewe are founden in here feith.
1476. Surtees Misc. (1888), 35. To all trewe Christen men.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, xcv. 307. Ye haue done as a trew subjet ought to do to his lorde.
1646. Hamilton, Papers (Camden), 119. Your Grace’s humblest truest seruant, R. Moray.
1821. Shelley, Bridal Song, i. Never smiled the inconstant moon On a pair so true.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, IV. 80. Bright and fierce and fickle is the South, And dark and true and tender is the North.
b. transf. of personal attributes or actions. Somewhat arch.; often passing into sense 2 or 5.
a. 800. [see TRUE-LOVE 1].
c. 1200. Ormin, Introd. 69. Trigg & trowwe griþþ & friþþ.
c. 1275. Passion our Lord, 45, in O. E. Misc., 38. Alle men he tauhte to holde treowe luue Erest to god almyhti.
13[?]. Cursor M., 4422 (Gött.). Ille es þe quit þi treu seruis.
1454. Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889), 281. That they shall do trewe execucion.
c. 1560. A. Scott, Poems (S.T.S.), ix. 14. Ane trewar hairt may no man haif.
1667. Milton, P. L., III. 104. What proof could they have givn … Of true allegiance?
1832. Tennyson, Miller’s Dau., 216. Round my true heart thine arms entwine.
c. Const. to (in early use with simple dative).
Beowulf (Z.), 1165. Æʓ-hwylc oðrum trywe.
c. 1200. Ormin, 6177. Þin laferrd birrþ þe buhsumm beon & hold & trigg & trowwe.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 596. And be tristy and trew to ȝow for euer-more.
c. 1400. Trevisa’s Higden (Rolls), V. 447 (MS. γ). Þanne doo as þou hast byhote, and be truwe [v.r. trewe] to hym þat so haþ þe i-holpe.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour (1906), 97. Y haue founde you … not true vnto me.
1583. Melbancke, Philotimus, E e j. I will bee as true to thee as the begger to his dishe.
1602. Shaks., Ham., I. iii. 78. This aboue all; to thine owne selfe be true:… Thou canst not then be false to any man.
1678. Wanley, Wond. Lit. World, V. ii. § 82. 472/2. A Prince more just and true to his word.
a. 1721. Prior, Song ‘Still, Dorinda,’ iv. To my vows I have been true.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ii. I. 258. Hyde had been true to his Tory opinions. Ibid. (1855), xi. III. 1. True … to the cause of civil freedom.
d. fig. of things: Reliable; constant; † sure, secure (obs.).
c. 1205. [see TRULY 1 b].
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 73. Þe pes to ȝeme & gyue with lawes trewe als stele.
c. 1425. Cursor M., 59 (Trin.). For whenne þou wenest hit trewest [v.r. truyst] to be, Þou shalt from hit or hit from þe.
a. 1733. Barton Booth, Song, ‘Sweet are the charms of her I love,’ ii. True as the Needle to the Pole, Or as the Dial to the Sun.
1791. Cowper, Iliad, VI. 60. Steel Of truest temper.
1872. Dora Greenwell, Liber Hum. (1875), 209. To the rock the root adheres, In every fibre true.
2. In more general sense: Honest, honorable, upright, virtuous, trustworthy (arch.); free from deceit, sincere, truthful (cf. 3 d); of actions, feelings, etc., sincere, unfeigned (now passing into or merged in 5). See also TRUEMAN.
a. 1012. Laws of Ethelred, III. c. 9. Buton he habbe tweʓra trywra manna ʓewitnesse.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 45. Be trewe mann and halt tin god.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 2. Þeos riwle is cherité of schir heorte and cleane inwit, and trewe bileaue.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 859. Men triwest [v.r. trewest] we [v.r. me] seþ And best me mai to hom truste þat of lest wordes beþ.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Eng. Wks. (1880), 321. As lif of a trew plow man … is betere preyere to god þen preyere of any ordre þat god loueþ lesse.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 464 (Balade). A trewe man … Hath nat to parte with a theuys dede.
1446. Lydg., Two Night. Poems, ii. 69. Triewe meanyng rooted so withynne, Fer from the conceyte of any maner synne.
c. 1460. Fortescue, Abs. & Lim. Mon., xiii. (1885), 141. iij. or iiij. theves … haue sett apon vj. or vij. trewe men, and robbed hem all.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Alfonce, ii. He is … reputed … for a good man and trewe.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, I. i. 27. There are no faces truer, then those that are so wash’d, how much better is it to weepe at ioy, then to ioy at weeping?
1611. Bible, Gen. xlii. 11. We are true men: thy seruants are no spies.
c. 1614. Sir W. Mure, Dido & Æneas, I. 715. Her waxen heart, touch’t with a trew remorse.
1710. Addison, Tatler, No. 250, ¶ 8. Good Men and true for a Petty Jury.
1847. Helps, Friends in C., I. 8. A true man does not think what his hearers are feeling, but what he is saying.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., III. v. Your own father has not a truer interest in you.
3. Of a statement or belief: Consistent with fact; agreeing with the reality; representing the thing as it is.
c. 1205. Lay., 4443. Belin ihærde sugge Þurh summe sæȝ treowe Of his broðer wifðinge.
1382. Wyclif, John xxi. 24. We witen, for [1388 that] his witnessing is trewe.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. I. 100. Al þe world wot wel hit myȝte nat be trywe.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, xvii. 396. ‘Syr, wyte that charlemagne is come wyth his oost.’… ‘Is it true?’ said mawgis.
a. 1529. Skelton, Dk. Albany, 4. These tidinges newe Whiche be as trewe As the gospell.
a. 1584. Montgomerie, Cherrie & Slae, 1018. I … Thocht all thair tales was trew.
1608. Willet, Hexapla Exod., 839. The truer opinion.
1710. Bingham, Chr. Antiq., XX. vii. § 10. The fact was too true, and the charge too well-grounded, to be denied of them all in general.
1759. Johnson, Rasselas, xlvii. The same proposition cannot be at once true and false.
1858. Lardner, Handbk. Nat. Phil., etc., 16. This will be true, however shallow the vessel … and however narrow the tube.
b. Often in phr. it is true (also inverted, true it is), introducing a statement; also ellipt. or interjectionally, true, introducing or in reply to a statement; usually in concessive sense: = truly, verily, certainly, doubtless.
1594. T. B., La Primaud. Fr. Acad., II. 13. True it is, that we haue now taken in hand a very long piece of worke.
1604. Shaks., Oth., I. iii. 79. That I haue tane away this old mans Daughter, It is most true: true I haue married her.
1611. Bible, Dan. iii. 24. They answered and said vnto the king: True, O king.
1724. De Foe, Mem. Cavalier (1840), 173. It is true, we were all but young in the War.
1784. Cowper, Task, III. 210. True; I am no proficient, I confess, In arts like yours.
1859. Ruskin, Two Paths, i. § 1. It is true that the art which carves and colours the front of a Swiss cottage is not of any very exalted kind; yet [etc.].
c. Come true: to be verified or realized in actual experience; to be fulfilled. Hold true: see HOLD v. 23 c.
1819. Shelley, Questions, 7. To patch up fragments of a dream, Part of which comes true.
1875. Morris, Æneid, VIII. 580. While yet my fear is unfulfilled, and hope may yet come true.
1879. M. J. Guest, Lect. Hist. Eng., xxi. 206. His prophecy had come true.
d. transf. Speaking truly, telling the truth; trustworthy in statement; veracious, truthful. (Not always distinguishable from 2.) Also fig.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 6599 (Cott.). All er yee tru, þis es your saghes, Es nan of yow þat þis calf knaues.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 503/2. Truwe mann, or woman, verax.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., vii. 77. That thay be traw of thare tong, And bere no fals witnes.
1526. Tindale, Matt. xxii. 16. Master, we knowe that thou arte true, and that thou teachest the waye of god trueli.
1611. Bible, Prov. xiv. 25. A true witnesse deliuereth soules: but a deceitfull witnesse speaketh lyes.
1634. Milton, Comus, 170. This way the noise was, if mine ear be true.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Past., II. 33. If the Glass be true, With Daphnis I may vie.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., lxxxv. 50. O true in word, and tried in deed.
4. Agreeing with a standard, pattern, or rule; exact, accurate, precise; correct, right.
c. 1550. Cheke, Matt. x. 5. (1843), 46. An Apostol, if ye wold have ye trutorn of ye naam is as much to sai as a frosent.
1570. Dee, Math. Pref., a iv b. Of the Variacion of the Compas, from true North.
1583. Stubbes, Anat. Abus., II. (1882), 77. Such as can scarcely read true English.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., III. xxxv. 217. The truest Translation is the first.
1674. Ray, Collect. Words, Smelting Silver, 114. Where the furnace is come to a true temper of heat.
a. 1721. Prior, Protogenes & Apelles, 54. Apelles drew A Circle regularly true.
1782. Cowper, Gilpin, 72. He … hung a bottle on each side To make his balance true.
1822. Imison, Sc. & Art, I. 98. Clocks and watches … so regulated as to measure true equal time.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., xcvi. 8. One indeed I knew … Who touch’d a jarring lyre at first, But ever strove to make it true.
b. In more general sense: Of the right kind, such as it should be, proper. (Cf. 5.)
1340–70. Alex. & Dind., 513. Þat þou miht trystli trye þe treweste lawe … Þat þou miht … þe beste lawe kenne.
1435. Coventry Leet Bk., 182. Yif the cardwiredrawer were … disseyued withe ontrewe wire … then wold he sey vnto the smythier … ‘Sir, amende your honde, or, in feithe, I wille no more bye of you.’ And then the smythier, lest he lost his Custemers, wolde make true goode.
c. 1600. Shaks., Sonn., lxii. Me thinkes no face so gratious is…, No shape so true.
1677. Yarranton, Eng. Improv., 51. The Land in this Mannor is sound, rich, dry, and good, and that is the true Land to bear Flax.
a. 1770. Jortin, Serm. (1771), II. i. 12. To place things in their true order.
1911. H. Wace, Proph. Jew & Chr., v. 92. These facts, thus placed in their true bearings, are left to produce their natural result upon the mind.
c. That is rightly or lawfully such; rightful, legitimate.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 5411. How Thelaphus tide to be treu kyng.
1593. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., I. ii. 23. An Oath is of no moment, being not tooke Before a true and lawfull Magistrate.
1681. Dryden, Abs. & Achit., 921. The true successor from the court removed.
1790. Burke, Fr. Rev., 322. By the laws of nature the occupant and subduer of the soil is the true proprietor.
d. Accurately placed, fitted, or shaped; exact in position or form, as an instrument, a part of mechanism, or the like.
1474. Coventry Leet Bk., 400. That his weyghtes be sised & sealed and true beme.
1551. Recorde, Pathw. Knowl., I. xxiv. More easyly … may you … make any suche line with a true ruler.
1664. Butler, Hud., II. iii. 1019. I’ll make them serve for perpendiculars As true as e’er were us’d by bricklayers.
1726. Leoni, trans. Alberti’s Archit., I. 38/2. We must use a Square Rule … of a very large Size, that our strait Lines may be the truer.
1875. Carpentry & Join., 43. A strip required to be cut and planed up perfectly true and even on its sides and ends.
1897. A. C. Pemberton, et al., Complete Cyclist, iii. 85. A second trueing at the end of a week will take up any slack in them [spokes], and result in a wheel which will remain permanently true.
e. True to: consistent with, exactly agreeing with, ‘faithful to’ (cf. 1 c).
1715. Arbuthnot, Lett. to Pope, 9 July. I was strangely disappointed in my expectation of a translation nicely true to the original.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, i. Be true to your time in the morning.
1883. Morfill, Slavonic Lit., i. 15. The dialects of a language are truer to its spirit than its literary form.
1885. Athenæum, 23 May, 661/2. The incident is very true to life and graphically described.
f. Conformable to reality, natural: = true to nature.
1870. Huxley, Lay Serm., i. That truest of fictions, ‘The History of the Plague Year.’
1894. S. G. Green, in Sunday at H., June, 527. I do not object to fiction provided it be true.
g. Remaining constant to type; not subject to variation. (Cf. C. 3 b.)
1839. Darwin, Voy. Nat., viii. (1873), 146. This breed is very true. Ibid. (1859), Orig. Spec., iv. (1860), 84. Can we wonder, then, that Nature’s productions should be far ‘truer’ in character than man’s productions?
h. Of the wind: Steady, constant, uniform in direction and force.
1894. Dundee Advertiser, 11 July, 6/1. The Britannia was now 400 yards ahead…. The wind was continuing true.
5. Real, genuine; rightly answering to the description; properly so called; not counterfeit, spurious, or imaginary; also, conforming or approaching to the ideal character of such.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVI. xlvii. (Bodl. MS.), lf. 176/2. Stones … þat bene fals … seme moste liche … to ham þat bene trew.
[c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 503/2. Trvwe, in belevynge, catholicus.]
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, I. 22. His forbearis … Of hale lynage, and trew lyne of Scotland.
1526. Tindale, 1 John ii. 8. The darknes is past, and the true lyght nowe shyneth.
1535. Coverdale, 1 John v. 20. This is the true God, and euerlastinge life.
1562. A. Scott, Poems (S.T.S.), i. 21. Caus his trew Kirk be had in reuerence.
1589. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, I. xii. (Arb.), 43. Vntrue praise neuer giueth any true reputation.
1680. Otway, Orphan, I. i. The World has not A truer Soldier, or a better Subject.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 598. He turns agen To his true Shape.
1781. Cowper, Truth, 176. True Piety is cheerful as the day.
1828. Scott, F. M. Perth, ii. The best armourer that ever made sword, and the truest soldier that ever drew one.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. II. 16. It was thought that the flocks … would soon return to the true fold.
1854. Moseley, Astron., xx. (1874), 93. About the equinox the time of true noon precedes the time of mean noon.
1891. Farrar, Darkn. & Dawn, liii. You may yet find the true criminals.
b. In scientific use: Conformable to the type, or to the accepted idea or character of the genus, class, or kind; properly or strictly so called.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, III. lxviii. 408. True Maydenheare, Ladies heare, Venus heare.
1704. F. Fuller, Med. Gymn. (1711), 201. The true skin, and all its innumerable Glands.
1741. Monro, Anat. Bones (ed. 3), 222. The Ribs are commonly divided into True and False. The True Costæ are the seven superior of each Side.
1809. Med. Jrnl., XXI. 274. In all cases of true hydrophobia.
1841. Penny Cycl., XXI. 415/1. The Lanianæ, or true Shrikes.
1855. Phillips, Man. Geol., 513. Masses of true granite.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 825. True nerve tumours are exceedingly rare.
c. True bill (in Law), a bill of indictment found by a Grand Jury to be supported by sufficient evidence to justify the hearing of a case: see BILL. sb.3 4. Hence allusively, a true statement or charge (true being loosely taken in sense 3).
1591. Lambarde, Eiren., IV. v. 484. An Enditement in their [Jurors’] finding of a Bill of accusation to be true.
1659. Termes de la Ley, 135 b. Indictment … is a Bill … exhibited by way of accusation … and preferred unto Jurors, and by their verdict found presented to be true before a Judge.
1769. Blackstone, Comm., IV. xxiii. 305. If they [the grand jury] are satisfied of the truth of the accusation, they then endorse upon it, ‘a true bill’; antiently, ‘billa vera.’ The indictment is then said to be found.
1809. Malkin, Gil Blas, IX. vi. (Rtldg.), 321. Him they taxed with the plotted massacre, and the bill was a true one.
1852. Smedley, L. Arundel, lii. A true bill, by all that’s unlucky!
B. sb. (absol. use of the adj.)
† 1. A faithful, loyal, or trusty person; a ‘true man.’ Obs.
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 2354. Trwe mon [= must] trwe restore.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 11976. A! traytor vntrew, how toke þou on honde Þat trew to be-tray?
c. 1470. Golagros & Gaw., 356. Thus with trety ye cast yon trew vndre tyld.
† b. spec. Nickname for a member of the Protestant or Whig party in the 17th c.: cf. true blue (see BLUE sb. 8). Obs.
a. 1734. North, Exam., II. v. § 68 (1740), 357. Most of the eminent Fanatics in England, with all their Trues and True-blues.
2. The true: That which is true; truth, reality.
1812. Crabbe, Tales, xi. 388. If sleep one moment closed the dismal view, Fancy her terrors built upon the true.
1874. Geo. Eliot, Coll. Breakf. P., 13. Yearning for that True Which has no qualities.
3. Accurate position or adjustment (in phr. out of the true): cf. sense 4 d above, and TRUTH sb. 6.
1890. W. J. Gordon, Foundry, 51. The bottom member would be out of the true as it expanded unequally.
C. adv.
1. Faithfully; † honestly; † confidently: = TRULY 1, 1 b, 2.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 1912. Þere ys no solas vndyr heuene … Þat shuld a man so moche glew As a gode womman þat loueþ trew.
13[?]. [see B. 1].
a. 1425. Cursor M., 4913 (Trin.). Þing þat we truly bouȝt And so is oure trewe geten þing.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, I. 86. Ressawide he was and trastyt werray trew.
c. 1555, 1633. [see true-dealing, true-meaning, in D. 2].
2. In accordance with fact; truthfully; rightly: = TRULY 3.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 18420 (Cott.). I hight þe tru þat þou þis ilk dai sal be … in paradis wit me.
c. 1450. Merlin, i. 7. The gode woman that spake with me seyde full trewe.
1525. Tindale, John xix. 35. He knoweth that he sayth true.
1638. Baker, trans. Balzac’s Lett. (vol. II.), 142. Tell mee true, Did you not [etc.]?
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 58, ¶ 13. If he tells me true.
1883. Athenæum, 17 Feb., 217/1. If report speak true.
3. Exactly, accurately, correctly: = TRULY 4.
1539. Palsgr., 698/2. Sauf vostre grace, or saulue vostre grace, for I fynde bothe, but saulue is trewer written.
1660. Bloome, Archit., A c. Sima being made true Square.
1687. A. Lovell, trans. Thevenot’s Trav., I. 35. They shoot at a mark very true with a Bow and Arrow.
1765. Wesley, Wks. (1872), XIV. 335. I want the people called Methodists to sing true the tunes … in common use.
1835. Sir J. Ross, Narr. 2nd Voy., viii. 119. The wind had continued true north.
1850. Lynch, Theo. Trin., xii. 232. Thy love in ours is imaged true As skies in water clear.
b. In agreement with the ancestral type; without variation: in phr. to breed true. (Cf. A. 4 g.)
1859. Darwin, Orig. Spec., i. (1860), 19. Every race that breeds true. Ibid. (1868), Anim. & Pl., I. vii. 242. The Spanish breed has long been known to breed true.
4. Really, genuinely; authentically. (Cf. TRULY 5.)
a. 1586, 1847. [see true-felt, true-heroic, in D. 2].
1895. Daily News, 17 Dec., 5/1. Miss Rushton does not say what paper or letter is true signed.
D. Combinations.
1. The adj. in comb.: a. parasynthetic, as true-blooded, -breasted, -eyed, -paced, -souled, -spirited, -stamped (having the true stamp, genuine), -toned, -tongued adjs.: see also TRUE-HEARTED; b. with other adjs., as true-like, -seeming; c. with sbs.: true-metal a., like that of genuine metal; † true-stitch, a kind of embroidery exactly alike on both sides (obs.); true-tongue, one having a true tongue, a truthful person, truth-teller; † true-wit (tru-witt), a genuinely witty person, a real ‘wit’ (obs.).
1818. Cobbett, Pol. Reg., XXXIII. 598. They are more *true-blooded.
1605. 1st Pt. Ieronimo, I. iii. O my *true brested father.
1883. Mrs. Plunkett, in Harper’s Mag., Jan., 240/2. Some *true-eyed artist.
1588. Fraunce, Lawiers Log., I. ii. 5. Plato … ascribeth truth to God and Gods children, leaving nothing but *truelike to mortall men.
1611. Shaks., Cymb., I. vi. 168. He is one The *truest manner’d.
1868. J. H. Blunt. Ref. Ch. Eng., I. 449. This is the *true-metal ring of the Book of Common Prayer.
1648. Herrick, Hesper., Fare-well to Sack, 35. Before they sing Their *true-pac’d numbers.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. i. 38. The falsest twoo, And fittest for to forge *true-seeming lyes.
1824. Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. I. (1863), 222. The equally apocryphal but still truer-seeming History of the Plague.
1854. Grace Greenwood, Haps & Mishaps, 37. A *true-souled old man.
1684. Otway, Atheist, I. i. A dozen … jolly, *true-spirited … Friends.
1678. Dryden, All for Love, I. i. The … rugged Virtue Of an old *true-stampt Roman.
1598. B. Jonson, Case is Altered, II. iii. What, *true-stitch, sister! both your sides alike!
1664. F. Hawkins, Youths Behav., II. 7. True-Stitch, Sattin stitch, Queen-stitch [etc.].
1907. Daily Chron., 21 Nov., 5/3. Her … E flat rang out clear and perfect like a *true-toned bell.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. III. 320. Thanne worth *trewe-tonge a tidy man þat tened me neuere.
c. 1369. Chaucer, Dethe Blaunche, 927. Of eloquence was neuer founde So swete a sownynge facounde, Ne *trewer tonged.
1651. Charleton, Ephes. & Cimm. Matrons, II. (1668), 60. Transformed from an Ideot, a Bartholmew-Cokes, a Clown, to a Bon Esprit, a Virtuoso, a *Truwitt.
2. The adv. in comb.: a. with ppl. adj., as true-begotten, -dealing, -derived, -devoted, -disposing, -divining, -felt, -made, -meaning, -meant, -ringing, -run, -speaking, -spelling, -strung; see also TRUE-BORN, -BRED; b. with other adjs., as true-heroic, -noble, -sweet, -sublime.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., II. ii. 36. O heauens, this is my *true begotten Father.
1708. Mrs. Centlivre, Busie Body, I. i. He … scarce believes there’s a true-begotten child in the city.
c. 1555. Harpsfield, Divorce Hen. VIII. (Camden), 94. Like an honest *true-dealing man.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., III. vii. 200. To draw forth your Noble Ancestrie … Vnto a Lineall *true deriued course. Ibid. (1591), Two Gent., II. vii. 9. A *true-deuoted Pilgrime is not weary To measure Kingdomes with his feeble steps. Ibid. (1594), Rich. III., IV. iv. 55. O vpright, iust, and *true-disposing God. Ibid. (1588), Tit. A., II. iii. 214. To proue thou hast a *true diuining heart.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, I. (1622), 40. Such tokens of *true-felt sorrow.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, Concl. Why Not make her *true-heroic—true-sublime?
1598. Drayton, Heroic. Ep., O. Tudor to Q. Cath., 44. By Frances conquest, and by Englands oth, You are the *true made dowager of both.
1633. T. Adams, Exp. 2 Peter ii. 18. A thief lighting into *true-meaning company.
1603. Shaks., Meas. for M., I. iv. 55. Of an infinite distance from his *true meant designe.
1601. Chester, Love’s Mart., Poet. Ess., Title-p., The *true-noble Knight.
1907. Daily Chron., 23 Feb., 3/2. These *true-ringing, rough-hewn epistles.
1893. Bailey’s Mag., Oct., 273/1. Was the race a *true-run one?
1570–6. Lambarde, Peramb. Kent (1826), 290. The opinion of any one *true speaking man.
1604. Middleton, Father Hubburd’s T., Wks. (Bullen), VIII. 53. A *true-spelling printer.
1598. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. i. III. Furies, 55. This mighty World did seem an Instrument *True-strung, well-tun’d. Ibid. (1593–4), Profit Imprisonm., 766. That this world’s fained sweet … Should be preferr’d before these seeming-sowrs, that make us Taste many *true-sweet sweets.
c. 1600. Shaks., Sonn., lxxxii. Thy *true telling friend.
1821. Clare, Vill. Minstr. (1823), I. 26. *True-thought legends.
