trow

trow · verb, noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*drew-“faithful, true”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*trūwāną“to trust”
3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*trewwāną“to trust”
4. Old English · inherited fromtrūwian“to trust, confide”
5. Old English · inherited fromtrēowan
6. Middle English · inherited fromtrowen
7. English todaytrow

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”).

trow · noun²

1. Old Norse · derived fromtrǫll“troll, malevolent supernatural being”
2. Norn · derived fromtroll
3. Old Norse · derived fromdraugr“malevolent revenant”
4. Norn · derived from*drou
5. Scots · derived fromtrow
6. English todaytrow

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.

trow · noun³

Shortened form of trousers.

Trow · proper noun⁴

1. Middle English · derived fromtrow“trough”
2. Middle English · derived fromtrewe“faithful, loyal”
3. English todayTrow

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”).

Words from the same roots