true / troō/ • adj. (tru·er, tru·est) 1. in accordance with fact or reality: a true story of course it's true that is not true of the people I am talking about. ∎  rightly or strictly so called; genuine: people are still willing to pay for true craftsmanship we believe in true love. ∎  real or actual: he has guessed my true intentions. ∎  said when conceding a point in argument or discussion: true, it faced north, but you got used to that.2. accurate or exact: it was a true depiction. ∎  (of a note) exactly in tune. ∎  (of a compass bearing) measured relative to true north: steer 085 degrees true. ∎  correctly positioned, balanced, or aligned; upright or level.3. loyal or faithful: he was a true friend. ∎  (true to) accurately conforming to (a standard or expectation); faithful to: this entirely new production remains true to the essence of Lorca's play.4. chiefly archaic honest: we appeal to all good men and true to rally to us.• adv. 1. chiefly poetic/lit. truly: Hobson spoke truer than he knew.2. accurately or without variation.• v. (trues, trued, tru·ing or true·ing) [tr.] bring (an object, wheel, or other construction) into the exact shape, alignment, or position required.PHRASES: come true actually happen or become the case: dreams can come true.out of true not in the correct or exact shape or alignment: take care not to pull the frame out of true.true to form (or type) being or behaving as expected: true to form, they took it well.true to life accurately representing real events or objects: artworks of the period were often composed in strident colors not true to life.DERIVATIVES: true·ness n.

true many a true word is spoken in jest proverbial saying, late 14th century, meaning that an apparent joke may often include a shrewd comment, or that what is spoken of as unlikely or improbable may in the future turn out to be true.
true-blue in early use (from the mid 17th century), applied to the Scottish Presbyterian or Whig party, the Covenanters having adopted blue as their colour in contradistinction to the royal red. Later (in the current sense), staunchly loyal to the Tory, or Conservative, Party; in the US, extremely loyal or orthodox.
true-love knot a kind of knot with interlacing bows on each side, symbolizing the bonds of love.

See also what everybody says must be true, morning dreams come true, what is new cannot be true, true as Troilus, twelve good men and true.

true steadfast; trustworthy OE.; consistent with fact XIII; real, genuine XIV. OE. ġetrīewe, trēowe, later trȳwe (ME. trewe, tru(we)) = OS. triuwi (Du. getrouw), OHG. gitriuwi (G. treu), ON. tryggr, Goth. triggws, f. the Gmc. sb. repr. by TRUCE. The sp. true dates from XV.