Sooth
adj, adv, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Truth. archaic, uncountable
"In sooth, I know not why I am so sad."
- 2 truth or reality wordnet
- 3 Augury; prognostication. obsolete, uncountable
"The sooth of birds, by beating of their wings."
- 4 Blandishment; cajolery. obsolete, uncountable
- 5 Reality; fact. obsolete, uncountable
- 1 Obsolete form of soothe. alt-of, obsolete
"To be ſhort, a wretched and curſed generation they be; hypocrites, pretending friendſhip, but they can not skill of plaine dealing and franke ſpeech. Rich men they claw, ſooth up and flatter: the poore they contemne and deſpiſe."
- 1 True. archaic
- 2 Pleasing; delightful; sweet. obsolete
"The soothest shepherd that e'er pip'd on plains"
- 1 In truth; indeed. archaic, not-comparable
"That shall I sooth (said he) to you declare."
Example
More examples"Sooth, then, shall she return / to Sparta and Mycenae, ay, and see / home, husband, sons and parents, safe and free, / with Ilian wives and Phrygians in her train, / a queen, in pride of triumph? Shall this be, / and Troy have blazed and Priam's self been slain, / and Trojan blood so oft have soaked the Dardan plain?"
Etymology
From Middle English sooth, from Old English sōþ (“truth; true, actual, real”), from Proto-West Germanic *sanþ, from Proto-Germanic *sanþaz (“truth; true”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁sónts, *h₁s-ont- (“being, existence, real, true”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”). Akin to Old Saxon sōþ (“true”), Old High German sand (“true”), Old Norse sannr (“true”), Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌾𐌰 (sunja, “truth”), Old English synn (“sin, guilt"; literally, "being the one guilty”). More at sin. See also soothe, derived from the same Old English word.