As steady as a tree

October 28th, 2008 at 07:00am Barry Wood

A “trustee,” emphasis on the second syllable, is someone or something entrusted to manage some type of property or perhaps help run a municipality, business or organization. Related terms include “trust account,” “trust company,” “trust fund” and “trust territory.”

A “trusty,” emphasis on the first syllable, is specifically “a convict granted special privileges as a trustworthy person.”

“Trust,” of course, is “faith,” “reliance,” a “firm belief or confidence in the honesty, integrity, reliability, justice, etc. of another person or thing.” It comes from an Old Norse word meaning, literally, “firmness.” Its Indo-European base is also at the root of “tree,” “true” and “stand.”

However, “antitrust” is not strictly its opposite. “Antitrust” is a business term, meaning “opposed to or regulating trusts.” It specifically pertains to laws, suits and so forth “designed to prevent restraints on trade, as by business monopolies, cartels, etc.” The word “trustbuster” applies to a person, particularly a federal official, who vigorously enforces such laws.

The American president most associated with “trustbuster” is Theodore Roosevelt, although his predecessor, William McKinley, got the ball rolling and his successor, William Howard Taft, continued the work. Food for thought: All three were Republicans.

Entry Filed under: word choices, word origins