truth

—truthless, adj. —truthlessness, n.

/troohth/, n., pl. truths /troohdhz, troohths/.

1. the true or actual state of a matter: He tried to find out the truth.

2. conformity with fact or reality; verity: the truth of a statement.

3. a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like: mathematical truths.

4. the state or character of being true.

5. actuality or actual existence.

6. an obvious or accepted fact; truism; platitude.

7. honesty; integrity; truthfulness.

8. (often cap.) ideal or fundamental reality apart from and transcending perceived experience: the basic truths of life.

9. agreement with a standard or original.

10. accuracy, as of position or adjustment.

11. Archaic. fidelity or constancy.

12. in truth, in reality; in fact; actually: In truth, moral decay hastened the decline of the Roman Empire.

[bef. 900; ME treuthe, OE treowth (c. ON tryggth faith). See TRUE, -TH¹]

Syn. 1. fact. 2. veracity. 7. sincerity, candor, frankness. 10. precision, exactness.

Ant. 1. falsehood. 2, 4, 7. falsity.

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I

In philosophy, the property of statements, thoughts, or propositions that are said, in ordinary discourse, to agree with the facts or to state what is the case.

At least four major types of truth theory have been proposed: correspondence theories (see realism), coherence theories (see coherentism, idealism), pragmatic theories (see pragmatism), and deflationary theories. The latter group encompasses a wide variety of views, including the redundancy theory, the disquotation theory, and the prosentential theory.

II

(as used in expressions)

AUM Supreme Truth

truth cinema

Truth Sojourner

to speak the truth

Four Noble Truths

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