Truth
Fact, experience, or the "official" version. Malleable and elusive.
How We Say It
trooth
Where It Comes From
Old English trΔowth β faithfulness, loyalty, the quality of being true. From trΔowe β faithful, trustworthy. Truth was originally about fidelity to a person or promise β being true β before it became about correspondence to fact.
How It's Been Used
The shift from truth as fidelity to truth as factual accuracy tracks a larger shift in what we value in speech. 'Speaking your truth' reintroduces the personal, experiential sense of the word against the factual. 'Post-truth' describes a condition where neither the fidelity nor the factual sense has much grip.