Etymologically
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distrust

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Pronunciation

  • /dɪsˈtɹʌst/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English dis- + trust,[2][3][4][5] Middle English distrusten (“to suspect”),[6] perhaps modelled on Latin diffīdō (“to distrust”)[2][7] or French défier.[7] The noun was formed in the same way from the noun trust, as well as from the verb.[2][8][7] Klein calls it a hybrid of the Latin prefix and the Scandinavian trust, and notes that mistrust, with both parts Germanic, is the etymologically correct form.[9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Intransitive, with of: to have a doubt or dread of, to suspect: 1430, in Lydgate's Troy Book (before 1420 in Barnhart).[2][3] The OED notes that the word was apparently not in ordinary use until the 16th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

The transitive verb, to withhold trust or confidence from, is recorded from 1548, in Udall's translation of Erasmus,[2][6][8] and the sense of doubting the truth or reliability of something from 1586.[2] The older intransitive uses with of, in or to died out in the 17th century.[2][7] The noun is dated 1513 by Merriam-Webster and Barnhart,[6][3] and 1548, in Hall's chronicle, by the OED.[2] Milton used it in Paradise Lost (1667) for the state of being distrusted and for a breach of trust,[2][7] and Johnson (1755) gave "discredit; loss of credit" as its first sense, quoting Milton.[10] The adjective distrustful is first found in Shakespeare's 1 Henry VI (1591).[3]

Timeline

  • 1430 – verb, with of: to suspect.[2]
  • 1513 – noun, lack of trust.[6][3]
  • 1548 – transitive verb, to withhold trust from; the noun in Hall's chronicle.[2]
  • 1586 – to doubt the truth or validity of.[2]
  • 1591 – distrustful, in Shakespeare.[3]
  • 1667 – noun, loss of credit; breach of trust, in Milton.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To have no trust or confidence in; to regard as unreliable or dishonest: The villagers distrusted the new landlord.[11][12][6]
  2. To doubt the truth or reliability of: I distrust these figures.[2][6]

Noun

  1. Lack of trust; suspicion or doubt: a deep distrust of politicians.[11][12][6][2]

Word family

  • distruster
  • distrustful
  • self-distrust

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins