trust

/tɹʌst/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/tɹɐst/

trust noun: confidence in or reliance on some person or quality. Also the ellipsis of trust me.

Noun

trust (countable and uncountable, plural trusts)

Confidence in or reliance on some person or quality.
- He needs to regain her trust if he is ever going to win her back.
- to lose trust in someone
Dependence upon something in the future; hope.
- Such trust have we through Christ.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 3:4
Confidence in the future payment for goods or services supplied; credit.
- I was out of cash, but the landlady let me have it on trust.
That which is committed or entrusted; something received in confidence; a charge.
That upon which confidence is reposed; ground of reliance; hope.
- O Lord God, thou art my trust from my youth.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 71:5
(rare) Trustworthiness, reliability.
The condition or obligation of one to whom anything is confided; responsible charge or office.
- I do profess to be no less than I seem; to serve him truly that
  will put me in trustc. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- 17th century, John Denham, Of Justice
  Reward them well, if they observe their trust.
The confidence vested in a person who has legal ownership of a property to manage for the benefit of another.
- I put the house into my sister's trust.
(trust law) An arrangement whereby property or money is given to be held by a third party (a trustee), on the basis that it will be managed for the benefit of, or eventually transferred to, a stated beneficiary; for example, money to be given to a child when he or she reaches adulthood.
A group of businessmen or traders organised for mutual benefit to produce and distribute specific commodities or services, and managed by a central body of trustees.
Affirmation of the access rights of a user of a computer system.

Verb

trust (third-person singular simple present trusts, present participle trusting, simple past and past participle trusted)

(transitive) To place confidence in, to rely on, to confide in.
- We cannot trust anyone who deceives us.
- If I live to see it, I will never trust his word after.1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
(intransitive) To have faith in; to rely on for continuing support or aid.
- In God We Trust
- Trust in me, just in me / Shut your eyes and trust in me1967, Sherman Brothers, “Trust in Me (The Python's Song)”, in The Jungle Book
(transitive) To give credence to; to believe; to credit.
- Trust me, you looke well.c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […]...
(transitive) To hope confidently; to believe (usually with a phrase or infinitive clause as the object)
- I trust you have cleaned your room?
- I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 John 1:12
(transitive) to show confidence in a person by entrusting them with something.
- Whom, with your power and fortune, sir, you trust, Now to suspect is vain.1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, (please specify the page number)
(transitive) To commit, as to one's care; to entrust.
- Merchants were not willing to trust precious cargoes to any custody but that of a man-of-war.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC
(transitive) To give credit to; to sell to upon credit, or in confidence of future payment.
- Merchants and manufacturers trust their customers annually with goods.
(intransitive, with-to) To rely on (something), as though having trust (on it).
- to trust to luck
- Having lost the book, he had to trust to his memory for further details.
(archaic, transitive) To risk; to venture confidently.
- [Beguiled] by thee to trust thee from my side.1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
(intransitive) To have trust; to be credulous; to be won to confidence; to confide.
- More ſhould I queſtion thee, and more I muſt, / Though more to know, could not be more to truſt: […]c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- I will trust and not be afraid.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 12:2
(archaic, intransitive) To sell or deliver anything in reliance upon a promise of payment; to give credit.

Adjective

trust (comparative more trust, superlative most trust)

(obsolete) Secure, safe.
(obsolete) Faithful, dependable.
of or relating to a trust.

Also used as

trust is also the ellipsis of trust me.

trust meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

trust in Hindi

confidence in or reliance on some person or quality: विश्वास viśvās, भरोसा bharosā, बावर bāvar
dependence upon something in the future; hope: विश्वास viśvās
the confidence vested in a person who has legal ownership of a property to manage for the benefit of another: न्यास nyās
a group of businessmen or traders: ट्रस्ट ṭrasṭ

trust in Tamil

confidence in or reliance on some person or quality: நம்பிக்கை nampikkai

trust in Urdu

confidence in or reliance on some person or quality: اِعْتِبار i'tibār, بَھروسَہ bharosa, اِعْتِماد i'timād, باوَر bāvar
that which is committed or entrusted; something received in confidence; a charge: اَمانَت amānat
the confidence vested in a person who has legal ownership of a property to manage for the benefit of another: اَمانَت amānat
a group of businessmen or traders: ٹَرَسْٹ ṭarasṭ, ٹْرَسْٹ ṭrasṭ

trust in Bengali

confidence in or reliance on some person or quality: বিশ্বাস biśśaś, ভরসা bhorśa
dependence upon something in the future; hope: ভরসা bhorśa, বিশ্বাস biśśaś

More languagesFewer languages

trust in Telugu: నమ్మకం nammakaṁ, విశ్వాసం viśvāsaṁ, భరోసా bharōsā
trust in Malayalam: വിശ്വാസം viśvāsaṁ
trust in Punjabi: ਭਰੋਸਾ, ਭਰੋਸਾ ਕਰੋ
trust in Gujarati: વિશ્વાસ, ભરોસો, વિશ્વાસ કરવો
trust in Sanskrit: विश्वास viśvāsa
trust in Assamese: ভৰসা bhoroxa, বিশ্বাস bissax
trust in Pashto: اعتماد e'temād, اعتبار e'tebār, باور bāwar
trust in Tagalog: tiwala, trust
trust in Arabic: ثِقَة ṯiqa, تْرَسْت trast, اِئْتِمَان iʔtimān, وَثِقَ waṯiqa
trust in Malay: kepercayaan, perchaya, amanah
trust in Indonesian: kepercayaan, trust
trust in Persian: اعتماد کردن e'temâd kardan, باور کردن bâvar kardan, اعتماد داشتن e'temâd dâštan
trust in Thai: ทรัสต์ trás, วางใจ waang-jai
trust in Vietnamese: tín thác, tơ-rớt, tờ-rớt, tin
trust in Myanmar: အားကိုး a:kui:

Examples of trust in a sentence

a relationship built on mutual trust
O ever-failing trust / In mortal strength!1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes:
He that trusts without reserve will at last be deceived.October 5, 1751, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler No. 162

All 40 example sentences with trust

Synonyms of trust

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of trust

Forms of trust

Noun
plural	trusts
Verb
third-person singular present	trusts
present participle	trusting
past participle	trusted
past	trusted
second-person singular present (archaic)	trustest
second-person singular past (archaic)	trustedst
third-person singular present (archaic)	trusteth
Adjective
comparative	more trust
superlative	most trust

Past tense of trust: trusted

Plural of trust: trusts

Origin of trust

From Middle English trust, trost (“trust, protection”). Long considered a borrowing from Old Norse traust (“confidence, help, protection”), from Proto-Germanic *traustą, but the root vocalism is incompatible, so trust has come to be considered a reflex of an unattested Old English *trust, from a rare zero-grade Proto-Germanic variant of the same root also attested in Middle High German getrüste (“host”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deru- (“be firm, hard, solid”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Traast (“comfort, solace”), West Frisian treast (“comfort, consolation, solace”), Dutch troost (“comfort, consolation”), German Trost (“comfort, consolation”), Low German Troost (“comfort, consolation”), Luxembourgish Trouscht (“consolation”), Danish trøst (“comfort, solace”), Icelandic traust (“faith, trust; confidence”), Norwegian Nynorsk trøst, trøyst (“consolation”), Swedish tröst (“comfort, consolation”), Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌰𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌹 (trausti, “covenant, pact”). Doublet of tryst. More at true, tree.

Words formed from trust

antitrust
bare trust
beef trust
blind trust
brains trust
brain trust
breach of trust
cestui que trust
cestuy que trust
charitable trust
constructive trust
Delaware statutory trust
entrust
Henson trust
honorary trust
intrust
living trustreal estate investment trust
mistrust
multi-academy trust
overtrust
partial trust
position of trust
public trust
Quistclose trust
remainder trust
resulting trust
spendthrift trust
take on trust
Totten trust
trust anchor
trust and safety
trustbuster
trustbusting
trust capital
trust deed
trust fall
trust-falling
trustful
trust fund
trust fund baby
trust-funder
trustification
trustify
trustless
trustlet
trustlike
trustman
trustmark
trustmonger
truststore
trust territory
trustworthy
trusty
unitrust
unit trust
untrust
wantrust
web of trust
betrust
foretrust

Phrases with trust

23 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with trust

25 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about trust

What does trust mean?: Trust means confidence in or reliance on some person or quality.
What is trust in Hindi?: Trust in Hindi is विश्वास (viśvās), भरोसा (bharosā), बावर (bāvar). See Trust meaning in Hindi.
How do you use trust in a sentence?: a relationship built on mutual trust
What part of speech is trust?: Trust can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
How do you pronounce trust?: Trust is pronounced /tɹʌst/.
What is the plural of trust?: The plural of trust is trusts.

Words near trust in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: trust (page history and authors); trust (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); trust (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-trust.ogg.

Cite this entry: “trust.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/trust. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.