Trow

//tɹoʊ// name, noun, verb

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname from Middle English. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A ghost town in Clark County, Wisconsin, United States. countable, uncountable
Noun
  1. 1
    Trust or faith. archaic, dialectal, uncountable, usually
  2. 2
    Any of several flat-bottomed sailing boats used for fishing or for carrying bulk goods. countable, dated
  3. 3
    Alternative form of drow. Orkney, Shetland, alt-of, alternative, dated

    "The Trows are of a diminutive stature, and they are usually dressed in gay green garments."

  4. 4
    Used chiefly in the expression drop trow. dated, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To trust or believe. archaic, dialectal

    "...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?"

  2. 2
    To have confidence in, or to give credence to. archaic, dialectal

Etymology

Etymology 1

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”).

Etymology 2

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”).

Etymology 3

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.

Etymology 4

Shortened form of trousers.

Etymology 5

Various origins: * A nickname for a trustworthy person, from Middle English trewe (“faithful, loyal”). * A topographic surname for someone who lived near a depression in the ground, from Middle English trow (“trough”).

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