troth
Americannoun
-
faithfulness, fidelity, or loyalty.
by my troth.
-
truth or verity.
in troth.
-
one's word or promise, especially in engaging oneself to marry.
noun
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a pledge or oath of fidelity, esp a betrothal
-
truth (esp in the phrase in troth )
-
loyalty; fidelity
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of troth
1125–75; Middle English trowthe, trouthe, variant of treuthe, Old English trēowth. See truth
Explanation
A troth is a serious promise to be faithful, such as a pledge people make about getting married. If you and your girlfriend announce your troth at a family dinner, then that means you better be serious about your relationship. You can pronounce troth to rhyme with "cloth" or to rhyme with "oath." In fact, oath is a synonym for troth. Both words are related to truth, in that when someone makes a troth or an oath, what is said is taken as the truth. You can see troth in words like betrothal, which means engagement, or betrothed, which refers to a person someone is engaged to.
Vocabulary lists containing troth
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But even if he were a corporeal being, he could never pledge his troth to another.
From New York Times • Jan. 27, 2017
Donald Trump is about to pledge his troth.
From The New Yorker • Jan. 19, 2017
Safe Haven, a soft-hearted candy sampler from the Nicholas Sparks series of romance novels, also opened solidly, but the weekend was still nothing for Hollywood to plight its troth over.
From Time • Feb. 18, 2013
Marie Ledger detects the “sweet scent of irony in Lord Grantham falling for the parlor maid,” what with him being so harsh on Sibyl for pledging her troth to the chauffeur.
From Slate • Feb. 13, 2012
Reginald advised that the troth had to be dropped only a little bit at a time.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
