Meanings
plural truces
- A period of time in which no fighting takes place due to an agreement between the opposed parties.
An uneasy truce
1 more example
[I]n about ſix VVeeks or tvvo Months, the Dyſentery gave Truce, in vvhich Time I vvas often fretted vvith ſtrangurious Symptoms.
1732 September 30 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Dr. Cranstoun, “The Objections against a Regimen, Especially a Milk, Seed, and Vegetable Diet, Considered. The Case of the Learned and Ingenous Dr. Cranstoun, in a Letter to the Author at His Desire, in Dr. Cranstoun’s Own Words.”, in George Cheyne, The English Malady: Or, A Treatise of Nervous Diseases of All Kinds, […], London: […] G[eorge] Strahan […]; Bath, Somerset: J. Leake, published 1733, →OCLC, part III (Containing Variety of Cases that Illustrate and Confirm the Foregoing Method of Cure. […]), page 321 - An agreement between opposed parties in which they pledge to cease fighting for a limited time.
He asked for a truce with his school enemy for five days.
3 more examples
They should meet that night on some neutral spot to ratify the truce.
1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter IV, in The Last Man. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC‘The Truce holds, Bagheera. This is no time to talk of hunting.’
1895 November, Rudyard Kipling, “How Fear Came”, in The Second Jungle Book, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 8[T]hey marked their truce by each of them, Aesir and Vanir alike, one by one spitting into a vat. As their spit mingled, so was their agreement made binding.
2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 108
present singular third person truces · participle present trucing · participle past truced · past truced
- intransitiveTo come to an agreement to cease fighting.
Only undaunted Henry de Tracey […] held up the cause; trucing at last, in loyal terms, till the king should become more powerful and be able in person to restrain the country.
1869, Thomas Cobbe, History of the Norman Kings of England, page 330
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna state of peace agreed to between opponents so they can discuss peace terms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*trewwō
- Proto-West Germanic*treuwu
- Old Englishtrēowa
- Middle Englishtrewes
- Englishtruce
From Middle English trewes, triwes, trues, plural of trewe, triewe, true (“faithfulness, assurance, pact”), from Old English trēowa, singularized plural of trēow, trȳw (“faith; pledge; agreement”), from Proto-West Germanic *treuwu, from Proto-Germanic *trewwō (compare Dutch trouw, German Treue, Danish tro, French trêve [< Germanic]), noun form of *triwwiz (“trusty, faithful”). More at true.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans wapenstilstand
- wapenstilstandperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
Ancient Greek σπονδαί, ἀνοχή
- σπονδαί (spondaí)period of time in which no fighting takes place
- ἀνοχή (anokhḗ)period of time in which no fighting takes place
Arabic هُدْنَة
- هُدْنَة (hudna)period of time in which no fighting takes place
Bulgarian прими́рие
- прими́рие (primírie)period of time in which no fighting takes place
Catalan treva
- trevaperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
Chinese Mandarin 停戰 /停战, 休戰 /休战
- 停戰 /停战 (tíngzhàn)period of time in which no fighting takes place
- 休戰 /休战 (xiūzhàn)period of time in which no fighting takes place
Czech příměří, klid zbraní
- příměříperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- klid zbraníperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- příměříagreement between opposed parties
Danish våbenhvile, våbenhvile
- våbenhvileperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- våbenhvileagreement between opposed parties
Dutch wapenstilstand, staakt-het-vuren
- wapenstilstandperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- staakt-het-vurenperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
Estonian vaherahu, relvarahu
- vaherahuperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- relvarahuperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
Finnish tulitauko, aselepo
- tulitaukoperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- aselepoperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- tulitaukoagreement between opposed parties
French trêve, cessez-le-feu
- trêveperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- cessez-le-feuperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
German Waffenstillstand, Waffenruhe
- Waffenstillstandperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- Waffenruheperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
Hebrew הַפְסָקַת אֵשׁ
- הַפְסָקַת אֵשׁ (hafsakát ésh)period of time in which no fighting takes place
Hindi युद्धविराम, संधि
- युद्धविराम (yuddhavirām)period of time in which no fighting takes place
- संधि (sandhi)period of time in which no fighting takes place
- समझौता (samjhautā)period of time in which no fighting takes place
- संधि (sandhi)agreement between opposed parties
- समझौता (samjhautā)agreement between opposed parties
Hungarian fegyverszünet, fegyvernyugvás
- fegyverszünetperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- fegyvernyugvásperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
Indonesian gencatan senjata, gencatan senjata
- gencatan senjataperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- gencatan senjataagreement between opposed parties
Italian tregua
- treguaperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
Japanese 停戦, 休戦
- 停戦 (teisen)period of time in which no fighting takes place
- 休戦 (kyūsen)period of time in which no fighting takes place
Korean 정전, 휴전
- 정전 (jeongjeon)period of time in which no fighting takes place
- 휴전 (hyujeon)period of time in which no fighting takes place
Latin indūtiae, treuga
- indūtiaeperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- treugaperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- pactiōagreement between opposed parties
- treugaagreement between opposed parties
Malay damai sementara, limut
- damai sementaraperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- limutperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
Māori rangaawatea, rangaawatea
- rangaawateaperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- rangaawateaagreement between opposed parties
Norwegian Bokmål våpenhvile, våpenstillstand
- våpenhvileperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- våpenstillstandperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- våpenhvileagreement between opposed parties
- våpenstillstandagreement between opposed parties
Polish rozejm, zawieszenie broni
- rozejmperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- zawieszenie broniperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- rozejmagreement between opposed parties
Portuguese trégua, cessar-fogo
- tréguaperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- cessar-fogoperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- tréguaagreement between opposed parties
- cessar-fogoagreement between opposed parties
Romanian armistițiu
- armistițiuperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
Russian переми́рие, зати́шье
- переми́рие (peremírije)period of time in which no fighting takes place
- зати́шье (zatíšʹje)period of time in which no fighting takes place
- переми́рие (peremírije)agreement between opposed parties
Slovak prímerie, kľud zbraní
- prímerieperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- kľud zbraníperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- prímerieagreement between opposed parties
Spanish tregua, inducia
- treguaperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- induciaperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
Swedish vapenvila
- vapenvilaperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
Tamil சமாதானம்
- சமாதானம் (camātāṉam)period of time in which no fighting takes place
Turkish ateşkes
- ateşkesperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
Ukrainian переми́р'я
- переми́р'я (peremýrʺja)period of time in which no fighting takes place
Vietnamese đình chiến, hưu chiến
- đình chiếnperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- hưu chiếnperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
Welsh cadoediad, cadoediad
- cadoediadperiod of time in which no fighting takes place
- cadoediadagreement between opposed parties
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with truce
Anagrams
Cite this entry
truce. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/truce
“truce.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/truce. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “truce,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/truce.
Source: truce on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.