sooth

[ sooth ]

/ suθ /

Archaic.

noun

truth, reality, or fact.

adjective

soothing, soft, or sweet.

true or real.

Nearby words

Origin of sooth

before 900; Middle English; Old English sōth; cognate with Old Saxon sōth, Old Norse sannr, Gothic sunjis true, Sanskrit sat, sant true, real; akin to is

Related formssooth·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sooth

He was elected to sooth the wounds of the Bush era and make clear to Muslims that they had nothing to fear from the US.
Romney’s One Quip on Russia Trumps Obama’s Former Declarations|Stuart Stevens|March 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In sooth, it is a shame to choose rather to be still borrowing in all places, from everybody, than to work and win.
Book of Wise Sayings|W. A. Clouston
He is, in sooth, a diabolical villain, and did very foully strike our companion here whilst men were holding him.
Robin Hood|Paul Creswick
We put up at the hostel of the Crown, and, in sooth, a merrier night I never spent withal.
William Shakespeare as he lived.|Henry Curling

The lady drew up, and the provost said, half aside, 'The sooth bourd is nae bourd.
Red Gauntlet|Sir Walter Scott
"In sooth I have travelled something hard," answered Leofric, who was travel-stained and pale with weariness and lack of sleep.
A Clerk of Oxford|Evelyn Everett-Green

British Dictionary definitions for sooth

sooth

/ (suːθ) archaic, or poetic /

noun

truth or reality (esp in the phrase in sooth)

adjective

true or real

smooth

Derived Formssoothly, adverb

Word Origin for sooth

Old English sōth; related to Old Norse sathr true, Old High German sand, Gothic sunja truth, Latin sōns guilty, sonticus critical

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sooth

sooth

Old English soð "truth, justice, righteousness, rectitude; reality, certainty," noun use of soð (adj.) "true, genuine, real; just, righteous," originally *sonð-, from Proto-Germanic *santhaz (cf. Old Norse sannr, Old Saxon soth, Old High German sand "true," Gothic sunja "truth").

The group is related to Old English synn "sin" and Latin sontis "guilty" (truth is related to guilt via "being the one;" see sin (v.)), from PIE *es-ont- "being, existence," thus "real, true," from present participle of root *es-, the s-form of the verb "to be" (see be), preserved in Latin sunt "they are" and German sind. Archaic in English, it is the root of modern words for "true" in Swedish (sann) and Danish (sand). In common use until mid-17c., then obsolete until revived as an archaism early 19c. by Scott, etc. Used for Latin pro- in translating compounds into Old English, e.g. soðtacen "prodigy," soðfylgan "prosequi."