trust (trŭst)

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[Middle English truste, perhaps from Old Norse traust, confidence.]

noun 

1. Firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing.
2. Custody; care.
3. Something committed into the care of another; charge.
4. 1. The condition and resulting obligation of having confidence placed in one: violated a public trust.
   2. One in which confidence is placed.
5. Reliance on something in the future; hope.
6. Reliance on the intention and ability of a purchaser to pay in the future; credit.
7. Law
   1. A legal title to property held by one party for the benefit of another.
   2. The confidence reposed in a trustee when giving the trustee legal title to property to administer for another, together with the trustee's obligation regarding that property and the beneficiary.
   3. The property so held.
8. A combination of firms or corporations for the purpose of reducing competition and controlling prices throughout a business or an industry.

verb: trust·ed, trust·ing, trusts. 

intransitive verb 

1. To have or place reliance; depend: Trust in the Lord. Trust to destiny.
2. To be confident; hope.
3. To sell on credit.

transitive verb 

1. To have or place confidence in; depend on.
2. To expect with assurance; assume: I trust that you will be on time.
3. To believe: I trust what you say.
4. To place in the care of another; entrust.
5. To grant discretion to confidently: Can I trust them with the boat?
6. To extend credit to.

idioms

in trust

In the possession or care of a trustee.

derivatives

trust́er

noun

synonyms:

trust, faith, confidence, reliance, dependence These nouns denote a feeling of certainty that a person or thing will not fail. Trust implies depth and assurance of feeling that is often based on inconclusive evidence: The mayor vowed to justify the trust the electorate had placed in him. Faith connotes unquestioning, often emotionally charged belief: “Often enough our faith beforehand in an uncertified result is the only thing that makes the result come true” (William James) Confidence, frequently implies stronger grounds for assurance: “Confidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom: youth is the season of credulity” (William Pitt) Reliance connotes a confident and trustful commitment to another: “What reliance could they place on the protection of a prince so recently their enemy?” (William Hickling Prescott) Dependence suggests reliance on another to whom one is often subordinate: “When I had once called him in, I could not subsist without Dependence on him” (Richard Steele)

See also: care

See also: rely