Etymologically
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real

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /rɪəl/ (UK); /riːl/, /ˈriː.əl/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English real,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman real, Old French rëel, rëal (“real, actual”),[2][4][5] and later directly from Late Latin reālis (“actual”), in Medieval Latin “belonging to the thing itself, relating to things (in law)”,[4][6][5] from Latin rēs (“thing, matter; property, goods”).[7][2][4] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster relate rēs to Sanskrit रयि (rayí, “property, wealth”);[8][6] Etymonline, following de Vaan, traces it to Proto-Indo-European *Hreh-i- (“wealth, goods”).[4] A different word real, “royal, regal”, from Old French, was used in Middle English and early modern English;[5][8][3] Weekley suggests it influenced real as a trade description of superior goods.[9] The coin real is from Spanish real (“royal”), from Latin rēgālis (“royal”) (see regal).[2][4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having physical existence, actual (before 1325 in Barnhart, early 14th century in Etymonline);[2][4][3] the Concise and New Oxford, however, give the first use as a late Middle English legal term, “relating to things, especially real property”.[10][11]

Semantic evolution

In law real has meant “relating to things” as opposed to persons since the 15th century, especially of immovable property such as land and buildings (1434), and of actions for the recovery of a specific thing (1444);[12][8][5] real estate as an exact term dates from the 1660s.[4][8] The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins notes that real property is so called because it is immovable, the opposite of personal property.[13] The sense “genuine, authentic” is recorded from 1440 in Barnhart and the 1550s in Etymonline,[2][4] “true, corresponding to fact” from 1440,[12] and in philosophy “existing in fact, not merely in appearance or thought” from 1603.[12][14] In mathematics, a real quantity (as opposed to an imaginary one) is found from 1668 in the Historical Thesaurus, and real number from 1909.[12][8] The adverb “really, very”, as in real nice, dates from the mid-17th century and is American in modern use;[2][12][9] Bartlett noted it in 1848.[15] The sense “unaffected, no-nonsense” dates from 1847, the real thing from 1818, real time in computing from 1953, and the slang get real from the 1960s, becoming widely popular about 1987.[4][16]

Timeline

  • before 1325 – having physical existence.[2][3]
  • 1434 – in law, of immovable property.[12]
  • 1440 – genuine, true.[2][12]
  • 1444 – in law, of an action for a thing.[8][12]
  • 1555 – the Spanish coin.[17]
  • 1603 – in philosophy, existing in fact.[12]
  • 1615 – as a noun, a real thing.[6][12]
  • 1658 – as an adverb.[2]
  • 1666 – real estate.[8]
  • 1668 – of a number, not imaginary.[12]
  • 1847 – unaffected, no-nonsense.[4]
  • 1909 – real number.[8]
  • 1953 – real time.[4]
  • 1960s – get real (US slang).[4][16]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Actually existing or occurring; not imaginary or supposed: a real illness.
  2. Genuine; not artificial or counterfeit: real gold.
  3. Rightly so called; worthy of the name: a real friend.
  4. Sincere; free of pretence.
  5. Serious; significant: a real danger.
  6. (economics) Adjusted for changes in the value of money: real income.
  7. (law) Relating to fixed or immovable property such as land and buildings: real property.
  8. (mathematics) Of a number, having no imaginary part.
  9. (philosophy) Existing objectively, independent of thought or language.

Adverb

  1. (informal, chiefly North America) Very; really: real nice.

Noun

  1. (the real) That which actually exists; reality.
  2. A real number.
  3. A former silver coin of Spain and Spanish America; a former monetary unit of Portugal; the basic monetary unit of Brazil.

Word family

  • realness
  • regal
  • royal
  • milreis
  • reality
  • realize
  • really
  • realism
  • realty
  • rebus
  • republic

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary distinguishes real, which implies that something is genuine or matches what it purports to be, from actual, “existing and not merely possible”, and true.[7][18] Merriam-Webster notes that most handbooks regard the adverb real as informal and more suited to speech; it is used only as an intensifier and is not interchangeable with really in other uses.[17][6]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  9. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  10. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  13. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  14. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  15. ^ Bartlett, John Russell (1848), Dictionary of Americanisms, New York: Bartlett and Welford
  16. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  17. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  18. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House