sooth

[sooth]Archaic.

noun

truth, reality, or fact.

adjective

soothing, soft, or sweet.

true or real.

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

Contemporary Examples of 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

Historical Examples of sooth

In sooth, I would yet do it, if he would make it up with the housewife.
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
I would come with you, but sooth to say I am stationed here and may not move.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
In sooth, it is bad for those who fall, but worse for those who bide behind.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
Tell me, comrade, is it sooth that we shall have another fling at these Frenchmen?
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
Elkanah was unable to conciliate Peninnah, or to sooth Hannah.
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I
Francis Augustus Cox

British Dictionary definitions for sooth

sooth

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

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."