Dictionary

trow en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /tɹoʊ/ (General-American)
• /tɹəʊ/ (UK)

Etymology

From Middle English trowen, trouwen, treuwen, treowen, trouen, from Old English trēowan, trīewan (“to trust”) and Old English trūwian (“to trust, confide”), from Proto-Germanic *trewwāną (“to trust”) and Proto-Germanic *trūwāną (“to trust”); both from Proto-Indo-European *drew- (“faithful, true”). Akin to Scots trow, trew (“to believe, trust, confide in, prove”), Dutch trouwen (“to wed, marry”), German trauen (“to trust, marry”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål and Swedish tro (“to believe, think”), Norwegian Nynorsk tru (“to believe, think”), Icelandic trúa (“to trust, believe, believe in”).

Meanings

1. (archaic, dialectal, uncountable, usually) Trust or faith.

Forms

trow en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /tɹoʊ/ (General-American)
• /tɹəʊ/ (UK)

Etymology

From Middle English trowen, trouwen, treuwen, treowen, trouen, from Old English trēowan, trīewan (“to trust”) and Old English trūwian (“to trust, confide”), from Proto-Germanic *trewwāną (“to trust”) and Proto-Germanic *trūwāną (“to trust”); both from Proto-Indo-European *drew- (“faithful, true”). Akin to Scots trow, trew (“to believe, trust, confide in, prove”), Dutch trouwen (“to wed, marry”), German trauen (“to trust, marry”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål and Swedish tro (“to believe, think”), Norwegian Nynorsk tru (“to believe, think”), Icelandic trúa (“to trust, believe, believe in”).

Meanings

1. (archaic, dialectal) To trust or believe.
   • But was the matter allowed to end there? I trow not. 1895, Kenneth Graham, The Golden Age, London, page 6:
   • Finding me stick to her still like wax, for my mettle was up as hers was, away she flew with me swifter than ever I went before, or since, I trow. 1869, R[ichard] D[oddridge] Blackmore, chapter X, in Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Sampson Low, Son, & Marston, […], →OCLC:
   • "And as their valour, so you trow, defied on aspe'rous voyage cruel harm and sore, so many changing skies their manhood tried, such climes where storm-winds blow and billows roar[.]" 1880, Richard Francis Burton, Os Lusíadas, volume I, page 23:
   • ...Sure (he said) my wife shall never know Of this escape, and if she do, I know the worst I trow She can but chide, shall feare of chiding make me to forslow? 1567, Arthur Golding: Ovid's Metamorphoses; Bk. 2 lines 527-9
2. (archaic, dialectal) To have confidence in, or to give credence to.

Forms

Deriveds

untrowed · betrow · trowable

trow en · NOUN · etymology 2

Meanings

1. (countable, dated) Any of several flat-bottomed sailing boats used for fishing or for carrying bulk goods.

Forms

trow en · NOUN · etymology 3

Etymology

From Shetlandic and Orcadian Scots trow, from Norn *drou, *drau (compare 18th c. Norwegian drau, modern drov, drauv), from Old Norse draugr (“malevolent revenant”); along the variation drow, intermixed with Norn troll, from Old Norse trǫll (“troll, malevolent supernatural being”), a partial synonym to draugr. L-vocalisation occurred in the early 15th century in Middle Scots, so trolly, knolls probably became *trowie, knowes around this time.

Meanings

1. (Orkney, Shetland, alt-of, alternative, dated) Alternative form of drow.
   alt of drow
   • The Trows are of a diminutive stature, and they are usually dressed in gay green garments. 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 261:

Forms

trow en · NOUN · etymology 4

Pronunciation

• /tɹaʊ/

Etymology

Shortened form of trousers.

Meanings

1. (dated, uncountable) Used chiefly in the expression drop trow.