The Etymology of the English Lexical Unit Trust

This chapter discusses the etymology of the lexical unit trust based on the manifestation of the words denoting this concept in Old English, Old Frisian, Old Norse, Old Dutch/Old Low Franconian, and other Germanic languages. On the one hand, the attention is paid to the archaic verb trow that originated from the Old English treow/trēow and was obviously related to the Old Saxon treuwa, the Old High German triuwa and the Old Frisian triūwe. On the other hand, the parallel is drawn between the trow and its Germanic cognates, especially, the Old High German triuwa that existed in Old Low Franconian and evolved into the Middle Dutch trouwe. The chapter reveals that the word triuwa was originally registered as a legal term and was related to the Old English trēowe. Moreover, there could be a special link between Old English and Old Low Franconian.