Etymology

reality

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Today it means: The state of being actual or real; realness. Full definition →

French réalité ← Medieval Latin reālitā ← Latin reālis
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reality · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(H)reh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*(H)reh₁ís
  3. Proto-Italic*reis
  4. Classical Latinrēs
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  7. Latinreālis
  8. Medieval Latinreālitā
  9. Frenchréalité
  10. English todayreality

From French réalité (“quality of being real”), from Middle French realité (“property, possession”), from Medieval Latin reālitās, from Late Latin reālis (“real”), equivalent to real + -ity. Recorded since 1550 as a legal term in the sense of “fixed property” (compare real estate, realty); the sense “real existence” is attested from 1647. First attested in c. 1540.

Reality · proper noun2

From reality.

Words from the same roots

Middle Frenchrealité all →

realty

Late Latinreālis all →

realrealis

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.