triewe

Forms

trīewe^[1] Also trēowe (Anglian) and trȳwe.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *triuwī, from Proto-Germanic *triwwiz (“true, faithful”).^[1][3] Kroonen writes the Proto-Germanic adjective as the u-stem *trewwu-, Orel and Ringe and Taylor as *trewwaz.^[4][5][6] It is found in all the old Germanic languages: Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐍃 (triggws), Old Norse tryggr, Old Frisian triūwe, Old Saxon triuwi and Old High German gitriuwi.^[4][5][7]

Kroonen compares Old Prussian druwit (“to believe”) and Old Irish derb (“certain”), and thinks a link with the Indo-European word for “wood” possible, comparing Latin rōbustus (“made of oak; strong”) from rōbur (“oak”).^[4] Köbler traces it to Proto-Indo-European *deru̯o- (“firm, true”), from the word for “tree”.^[8] Orel bases it on a verb *trewan.^[5]

The Proto-Germanic double ⟨w⟩, kept as ⟨ggw⟩ in Gothic and ⟨ggv⟩ in Norse, became a diphthong with ⟨w⟩ in West Germanic.^[9][6] The diphthong ⟨īo⟩ was i-umlauted to ⟨īe⟩ in West Saxon only, hence West Saxon (ġe)trīewe beside Mercian ġetrēowe.^[10][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated manuscript with the simple adjective is the Vercelli Book, of the second half of the tenth century, where in Andreas God tells the saint not to be slow gif ðu wel þencest wið þinne waldend wære gehealdan, treowe tacen “if you mean to keep your pledge well with your Lord, a true token”.^[11][12][13] The Old English Boethius, in a manuscript of the mid-tenth century, already has the derivative getrewe “faithful”.^[14][12]

Semantic evolution

The adjective is used of faithful companions and retainers: in Beowulf Hrothgar and Hrothulf are still at peace, æghwylc oðrum trywe “each true to the other”, and Guthlac speaks to his treówum gesíþe, his faithful follower.^[2] In the laws it qualifies witnesses and oath-helpers who can be trusted: twegra trywra manna gewitnesse “the witness of two trustworthy men”.^[15][2] Holthausen and Köbler also give “honest”.^[7][8]

The word lived on as Middle English treu, now English true; the sense “consistent with fact” is recorded from about 1200.^[16]

Timeline

• s. x² – treowe tacen in Andreas in the Vercelli Book.^[11][12]
• s. x/xi – æghwylc oðrum trywe in the Beowulf manuscript.^[17][12]
• c. 1200 – the sense “consistent with fact” in English.^[16]

Meanings

Adjective

1. faithful, loyal, true to someone.^[2][18][8]
2. (law) trustworthy, credible, of witnesses.^[15][2]
3. honest.^[7][8]

Word family

• ġetrīewe
• untrīewe
• ortrīewe

Descendants

• Middle English treowe (→ Scots trew; English true)^[1]

Related words

• trēow
• trīewan

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1014
3. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 249
4. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 523
5. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 410
6. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 66
7. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 353
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. trēowe
9. ^ Campbell, A. (1959), Old English Grammar, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. § 120
10. ^ Campbell, A. (1959), Old English Grammar, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. § 201
11. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 704
12. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
13. ^ North, Richard; Bintley, Michael D. J., eds. (2016), Andreas: An Edition, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press (glossary)
14. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 296
15. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 214
16. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
17. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344
18. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 198