Where does “untruth” come from?
Untruth comes from English un- plus truth, which derives from Old English trēowth (faith, fidelity), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂ent- (being, entity).
untruth (English): A lie or falsehood; The condition of being false;...
Definitions
- A lie or falsehood; The condition of being false;...
Ancestry of “untruth”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | truth | True facts, genuine depiction or statements of... |
| 2 | Middle English | troute | trout certain fish of the genus |
| 3 | Old English | truht | trout |
| 4 | Old French | truite | — |
| 5 | Latin | tructa | a kind of trout |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | τρώκτης | gnawer, nibbler; greedy knave; kind of fish with... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | -τής | Appended to verbs to form agent nouns |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | πεῖρα | trial, experiment, attempt |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |