trusty

Etymology

It is formed from English trust + -y,^[2][3][4][5] with the Middle English forms trusti and trosty.^[6][3] Trust is probably from Old Norse traust (“help, confidence, protection”).^[3] The OED compares the adjectives tristy and traisty, and takes the spelling tursti as a metathesis.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged records a variant of the noun spelled like trustee, under whose influence it was altered.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having confidence or faith, trustful: about 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[2] Etymonline has the same sense from the early 13th century, with the spelling trusti,^[3] and Dictionary.com gives 1175–1225.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word first described the person who trusts, and then the one trusted: "reliable, faithful" is recorded of people and animals from before 1350, in the Harley Lyrics, and of objects from about 1390.^[2][3] Old English had expressed this idea with treowful.^[3] The trustful sense is now rare or archaic.^[2][5][6] Johnson (1755) gave only the later senses: "honest; faithful", quoting Shakespeare's "trusty servant", and "such as will not fail", quoting the Fairy Queen on a "trusty sword".^[8] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also notes Shakespeare's use for "involving trust", now obsolete.^[6] The noun, a reliable person or thing, dates from the late 16th century: 1570 in Tusser, according to the OED, and 1573 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged.^[2][6] American prison use began with the adjective in 1828 and the noun in 1849,^[2] and Green's Dictionary of Slang has the noun from 1855.^[9] In Irish English a trusty was a greatcoat from 1804, in M. Edgeworth, a name Green's explains by its being trusted to keep one warm and dry.^[2][9] The Shorter Oxford marks the adjective as archaic and often jocular.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1225 – having trust, trustful.^[2]
• before 1350 – of a person or animal, reliable, faithful.^[2]
• c. 1390 – of an object, dependable.^[2]
• 1570 – noun, a trustworthy person or thing.^[2]
• 1804 – noun, in Ireland, a greatcoat (last recorded 1849).^[2][9]
• 1828 – of a prisoner, granted privileges for good conduct.^[2]
• 1849 – noun, such a prisoner.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Able to be relied on; faithful or dependable, now often said humorously of a familiar object: She took her trusty old bicycle to the market.^[10][6][5]
2. Of a prisoner, granted privileges for good conduct.^[5][2]
3. (archaic) Having trust; trustful.^[10][6][2]

Noun

1. A prisoner who is trusted and given privileges for good conduct.^{[10][6][2][9]}
2. A person or thing that can be trusted.^[10][6][2]
3. (obsolete, 1804–1849) In Ireland, a greatcoat.^[2][9]

Word family

• trustily
• trustiness

Related words

• trust
• trustee
• trustworthy

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ 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)
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c d e Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins