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THE GRAPH.
Find a modern word—or search sideways through reconstructed roots, historical forms, meanings, languages, scholars, sources, claims, disputes, and witnesses.
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MODERN ENTRY POINTS
WORD DOSSIERS
verbexact headword
betroth
To promise in marriage; a Middle English prefixed formation built on the same historical noun that yielded truth and troth.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗noundossier summary
troth
Pledged fidelity, good faith, or betrothal; a surviving historical twin of truth rather than a later poetic fabrication.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗022
ATTESTED / RECONSTRUCTED / BOUNDARY
HISTORICAL FORMS
034
WHERE INTERPRETATION IS TESTED
CLAIMS & DISPUTES
SCHOLARLY DISPUTES / 3
openprobableexact word
Is betroth built on truth or troth?
The historical base is Middle English trouth or trouthe, where the modern truth and troth spellings were not yet cleanly separated; mapping it to only one modern headword overstates the evidence.
resolvedestablishedexact word
Is the be- in betroth the verb be?
No. It is the historical prefix bi- or be-, related to Old English bi- or be- and bī “by, near,” not the copular verb.
resolvedestablishedposition text
Has troth always meant only a marriage promise?
No. Its reported meanings include fidelity, loyalty, good faith, pledged word, and betrothal.
CONTRARIAN TRUTHS / 1
RANK 101GRADE Aexact ranked word
To betroth is to bind by one’s truth or troth.
Middle English bitrouthen visibly combines bi-/be- with trouth, the historical fidelity noun before modern truth and troth were cleanly separated.
042
BOOKS / DICTIONARIES / ARTICLES / DATABASES
SOURCES
051
FIRST USES & HISTORICAL OBJECTS
ATTESTATION WITNESSES
06
SEARCH IS DISCOVERY, NOT PROOF
EVERY RESULT OPENS A PERMANENT EVIDENCE RECORD.
Matching text only locates a record. It does not raise confidence, settle a dispute, establish cognacy, or turn a source report into direct inspection. Follow the result into its citations and editorial limits.