Truth has a variety of meanings, primarily being in accord with fact or reality, fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal and, in common usage, constancy or sincerity in action or character. The opposite of truth is falsehood, which, correspondingly, can also take on a logical, factual or ethical meaning.

Language and words are a means by which humans convey information to one another. As such, "truth" must have a beneficial use to be retained within language. Defining this potency and applicability can be looked upon as "criteria", and the method used to recognize a "truth" is termed a criterion of truth. Since there is no single accepted criterion, they can all be considered "theories".^{[clarification needed]}

In religious context, truth is regarded as an aspect of God since the deity is reputed to have knowledge of all things (omniscience). Thus God may hold the office of divine judgment, by which all people are ultimately judged.

Various theories and views of truth continue to be debated among scholars and philosophers. There are differing claims on such questions as what constitutes truth: what things are truthbearers capable of being true or false; how to define and identify truth; the roles that revealed and acquired knowledge play; and whether truth is subjective or objective, relative or absolute.

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record. A 'documentary film' was originally shot on film stock — the only medium available — but now includes video and digital productions that can be either direct-to-video, made as a television program or released for screening in cinemas. "Documentary" has been described as a "filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception" that is continually evolving and is without clear boundaries.

In popular myth, the word 'documentary' was coined by Scottish documentarian John Grierson in his review of Robert Flaherty's film Moana (1926), published in the New York Sun on 8 February 1926, written by "The Moviegoer" (a pen name for Grierson).

Grierson's principles of documentary were that cinema's potential for observing life could be exploited in a new art form; that the "original" actor and "original" scene are better guides than their fiction counterparts to interpreting the modern world; and that materials "thus taken from the raw" can be more real than the acted article. In this regard, Grierson's definition of documentary as "creative treatment of actuality" has gained some acceptance, with this position at variance with Soviet film-maker Dziga Vertov's provocation to present "life as it is" (that is, life filmed surreptitiously) and "life caught unawares" (life provoked or surprised by the camera).

Cut may refer to: