Trusted

How to spell trusted

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce trusted

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does trusted mean?

1. adjectiveRegarded as reliable and able to be depended on.
2. verbPast tense of trust: relied on someone or believed in their honesty.

Trusted in a sentence

• adjective

  The company kept its most trusted suppliers on a priority list.

• verb

  The team trusted their manager to handle the difficult negotiation.

• adjective

  She became his most trusted colleague over many years of working together.

• verb

  He trusted the figures in the report without checking them again.

Where does trusted come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

This word grows from the verb 'trust', which English took from Old Norse 'traust', meaning 'confidence', 'protection', or 'firm support'. That noun in turn traces back to a Germanic root linked to the idea of being firm or strong, the same family that gives us 'true' and 'truce'. Scandinavian settlers brought the word into northern England during the Viking age, and by the Middle English period 'trust' was firmly established as both a noun and a verb. The form 'trusted' is simply the regular past tense and past participle, adding the ordinary -ed ending. Because the base word is short and the ending is the standard one, the spelling has stayed remarkably stable: a single 't' in the middle, never doubled.

How the word is built

• trust (root: confidence, reliance)
• -ed (past tense / past participle / adjective suffix)