What is trust?

A trusted party is presumed to seek to fulfill policies, ethical codes, law and their previous promises.

Trust does not need to involve belief in the good character, vices, or morals of the other party. Persons engaged in a criminal activity usually trust each other to some extent. Also, trust does not need to include an action that you and the other party are mutually engaged in. Trust is a statement about what is otherwise unknown -- for example, because it is far away, cannot be verified, or is in the future.In the social sciences, the subtleties of trust are a subject of ongoing research. In sociology and psychology the degree to which one party trusts another is a measure of belief in the honesty, fairness, or benevolence of another party. The term "confidence" is more appropriate for a belief in the competence of the other party. Based on the most recent research, a failure in trust may be forgiven more easily if it is interpreted as a failure of competence rather than a lack of benevolence or honesty. In economics trust is often conceptualized as reliability in transactions. In all cases trust is a heuristic decision rule, allowing the human to deal with complexities that would require unrealistic effort in rational reasoning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_(social_sciences)

1.reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

2.confident expectation of something; hope.

3.confidence in the certainty of future payment for property or goods received; credit: to sell merchandise on trust.

4.a person on whom or thing on which one relies: God is my trust.

5.the condition of one to whom something has been entrusted.

6.the obligation or responsibility imposed on a person in whom confidence or authority is placed: a position of trust.

7.charge, custody, or care: to leave valuables in someone's trust.

8.something committed or entrusted to one's care for use or safekeeping, as an office, duty, or the like; responsibility; charge.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trust