Meanings
- Synonym of in wine, there is truth (one tells the truth under the influence of alcohol)
For quotations using this term, see Citations:in vino veritas.
Synonyms: in wine, there is truth
Synonyms & antonyms
proverbSynonym of in wine, there is truth (one tells the truth under the influence of alcohol)
Origin
- New Latinin vīnō vēritās
- Englishin vino veritas
Borrowed from New Latin in vīnō vēritās (literally “in wine there is truth”), from in (“in”) + vīnō, the ablative singular of vīnum (“wine”) + vēritās (“truth”). While various classical writers in both Greek and Latin make similar statements, the form in vino veritas is from the 16th-century humanist Erasmus, and is first attested in English writing soon afterwards in the same century.
More words from New Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
in vino veritas. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20vino%20veritas
“in vino veritas.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20vino%20veritas. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in vino veritas,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20vino%20veritas.
Source: in vino veritas on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.