truly

Etymology

It is formed from English true + -ly.^[2][3][4] Many dictionaries derive it instead from Old English trēowlīce (“faithfully, loyally”),^{[5][6][7][8][9]} from trēowe (“faithful”) and -līce,^[6] through treuli.^[3][10] The revised OED compares getrēowlīce (“faithfully, loyally, confidently, honestly”), which is much more common in Old English than the simple form.^[2] Similar formations are Dutch treuwelijk, German getreulich and Swedish troligen.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Confidently, with steadfast faith or assurance: in an Old English life of St Margaret.^[2] Dictionary.com dates the word to before 1000,^[9] and the Shorter Oxford gives the sense "faithfully, loyally" as the Old English one.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The Middle English word meant loyally, with faithfulness to friends or nation and constancy to a lover,^[3][10][2] a sense that the OED now calls rare and Merriam-Webster archaic.^[2][6] By about 1225 it also meant genuinely or sincerely, and truthfully.^[2] About 1275 it had weakened to an assertion, "indeed, certainly".^[2] Etymonline notes the sense "in accordance with a promise or duty" by about 1300, and "in reality; exactly" in the late 14th century.^[3] The OED has rightly and duly from 1340, and accurately from before 1375.^[2] In breeding, the word means without cross-breeding or variation, recorded from 1650.^[2] Johnson (1755) listed "according to truth", "really", "exactly" and "indeed".^[11] Well and truly is recorded from 1348 in the OED and the mid-15th century in Etymonline,^[2][3] and yours truly as the close of a letter from 1788,^[3] later as a joking word for oneself.^[4] The word could also be a noun in mild oaths, by my truly, from 1576 to 1916,^[2][12] which the English Dialect Dictionary records in Scotland, Northumberland and Yorkshire.^[13] An adjective truly, meaning "safe, sound", goes back to late Old English and died out after 1470;^[2][10] the later adjective, of a story based on real events, was originally Scottish and is first recorded in 1808 in Jamieson.^[2][13]

Timeline

• before 1000 – confidently, with steadfast faith.^[2][9]
• c. 1225 – genuinely, really; truthfully.^[2]
• before 1250 – loyally, faithfully.^[2]
• c. 1275 – indeed, certainly.^[2]
• 1340 – rightly, duly.^[2]
• 1348 – well and truly.^[2]
• before 1375 – exactly, accurately.^[2]
• 1576 – noun, in oaths such as by my truly.^[2] Merriam-Webster and Green's Dictionary of Slang first find it in 1580, in G. Harvey.^[6][12]
• 1650 – of breeding, without variation.^[2]
• 1788 – yours truly before a signature.^[3]
• 1808 – adjective, of a story: based on real events.^[2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In agreement with fact; truthfully: She answered truly when they asked.^[6][14][2]
2. Genuinely, really; often as an intensifier: a truly kind neighbour.^[14][2][4]
3. Indeed, certainly: Truly, I had no idea.^[14][6][2]
4. Exactly, accurately: The wheel runs truly on its axle.^[6][2]
5. yours truly: a formula closing a letter; humorously, oneself.^[4][6]
6. well and truly: completely, thoroughly.^[2]
7. (archaic) Loyally, with constancy.^[6][4][2]

Noun

1. (British, 1576–1916) In the oath by my truly: on my word.^[6][2][12]

Adjective

1. (originally Scottish, later US) Of a story, true; based on real events.^[2][13]

Word family

• yours truly

Related words

• true
• truth

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 q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ a b c Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins