realism

Etymology

It is formed from English real + -ism,^[2][3][4][5] originally after German Realismus, used by Kant in 1781 and of literature from 1798.^[2][6][7] Etymonline allows French réalisme too,^[3] but the OED dates the French word only from 1801 in philosophy and 1826 in literature.^[2] The adjective real comes through Old French reel from Late Latin reālis (“actual”), from rēs (“thing, matter”).^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In philosophy, the doctrine that matter as the object of perception really exists, independent of the mind: 1797, in a translation of J. S. Beck's Principles of Critical Philosophy.^[2][7] Etymonline dates the word to 1794.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word came into English as a philosophical term from German, and its first senses are opposed to idealism.^[2][3] The scholastic doctrine that universals really exist, opposed to nominalism, is recorded before 1820 in the OED^[2] and in Etymonline from 1826.^[3] Already in 1817 Coleridge used it in the general sense of attachment to what is real, which led to the modern sense of accepting a situation as it is and dealing with it practically.^[2][3] In education it meant giving priority to practical subjects (1836), a sense now rare.^[2] Ruskin applied it in 1856 to art: close and faithful representation of real things, often with attention to unpleasant details,^[2][3] and French réalisme was used of art from 1843.^[2] The 20th century added a new realism in philosophy reacting against idealism (1906) and legal realism, the view that law is best understood through social and political factors (1930).^[2]

Timeline

• 1794 – first date in Etymonline.^[3]
• 1797 – the doctrine that matter really exists independent of the mind.^[2][7]
• 1817 – attachment to what is real; a practical attitude.^[2][3]
• before 1820 – the scholastic doctrine that universals really exist.^[2]
• 1836 – the priority of practical subjects in education.^[2]
• 1856 – faithful representation of reality in art and literature.^[2][3]
• 1906 – new realism in philosophy.^[2]
• 1930 – legal realism.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The attitude of accepting a situation as it is and dealing with it in a practical way, rather than an idealistic one.^{[9][8][7][10]}
2. In art and literature, the representation of things and people as they really are, without idealization.^{[8][9][10][2]}
3. (philosophy) The scholastic doctrine, opposed to nominalism, that universals exist independently of the mind.^[8][9][7][2]
4. (philosophy) The doctrine that matter as the object of perception exists independently of the mind.^[8][9][2]
5. (law) The theory that law is best understood through the social and political factors that shape it.^[2]

Word family

• realist
• realistic
• realistically
• hyperrealism
• photorealism
• superrealism

Related words

• real
• reality

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c d Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins