What does entrusted mean?
Entrusted is the past tense and past participle of the verb entrust, which means to place responsibility, authority, or something valuable into another person's care with the expectation that they will handle it faithfully. The word appears in two main constructions: one can be entrusted with a duty ('She was entrusted with the company's finances'), or something can be entrusted to a person ('The documents were entrusted to a lawyer'). Because it implies both a transfer of responsibility and a measure of confidence in the recipient, entrusted carries a dignified, often formal tone, making it common in legal writing, corporate communication, obituaries, and historical narrative. Its emotional weight comes from what it presupposes: that the giver had a genuine choice and chose this particular person. The word derives from 'trust,' itself rooted in Old Norse 'traust,' meaning confidence or firmness, so every use quietly invokes an old Germanic idea of reliability and reliance between people.
verbPast tense and past participle of entrust: to give someone the responsibility of doing something or of caring for something valuable.
- To give a person the responsibility for doing something important or confidential.
- To place something valuable into someone's care or safekeeping.
"She entrusted her savings to a financial adviser she had known for years."
"The committee entrusted the negotiations to its most experienced member."
"He entrusted the keys to his late mother's house with a neighbour."
Every time you say 'entrust,' you're echoing an Old Norse word for confidence — to entrust something is literally to hand it over wrapped in trust.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of entrusted
Entrusted comes from the verb entrust, formed in English by adding the prefix en- ('to put into') to trust. Trust itself entered Middle English from Old Norse traust, meaning confidence or firmness, sharing deep roots with words like true and tree (in the sense of steadfastness). The compound entrust became established in English usage around the sixteenth century, and entrusted has served as its standard past form ever since.
Related word forms
How entrusted is actually used
Formal to neutral in register, common in legal, professional, and ceremonial contexts. Typically followed by two patterns: 'entrust someone with something' or 'entrust something to someone.' The verb carries a positive connotation of confidence and honour being placed in another person.
Easily confused with entrusted
Intrusted is simply an older spelling variant of entrusted; both mean the same thing, but entrusted is now the standard form.