Dictionary verb *deru-, *dreu- trauen

Meanings

1.
to wed, unite in wedlock
("jemanden trauen" - In the sense of leading the procedure. NOT for being a partner.)
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2.
to trust someone
("jemandem trauen" - sounds more suspicious than "vertrauen" and it's fairly rare in daily life. )
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3.
to dare, to have the guts
("sich+Acc trauen" - MUST be used reflexively and it's super common.)
How useful:

My Articles

Word of the Day - "trauen"

A fun look at the German verb "trauen", the difference to "sich trauen" and what confidence has to do with marriage and fidelity. #datingadvice #kidding

Vocab:

trauen, sich trauen, vertrauen, treu, heiraten,


Word Family

The core idea of this root was

firm, hard, strong

It has evolved into quite an impressive language tree where the two main branches in English are about lasting over time (during, duration, durable, endurance) and being steadfast, honest (trust, truth, true)

Here’s a little (incomplete) overview:

  • tree
  • dendro- (Greek stem for tree)
  • Druid (literally “tree-wit, tree, knower”)
  • dryad (“wood nymph”)
  • duration, during, endurance, durable
  • trust
  • truth, true
  • duress (originally:” hardness”, then “toughness”)
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