reality

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /riˈæl.ə.ti/, US /riˈæl.ə.t̬i/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French réalité and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin realitas (accusative realitatem),^[2][3][4] from Late Latin realis (“real, actual; relating to things”),^[2][4][5] the source of real, from Latin rēs (“thing”), with the suffix -ity.^[2][4] The older English form in the sense “reality” was realty, from the mid-15th century.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The quality of being real or having actual existence: 1550 in the OED and Merriam-Webster,^[6][7] the 1540s in Etymonline.^[2] Merriam-Webster also dates one sense to about 1513,^[4] and the SOED puts the word in the late 15th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

“Real existence, what is real, the sum of all that is real” is from 1647,^[6] the 1640s in Etymonline,^[2] and a real thing or fact from 1646.^[6] In reality, “in fact, actually”, is from 1679,^[6] and “the real state of something” from the 1680s.^[2] In the 17th and 18th centuries it also meant “sincerity”, sincere devotion or loyalty (1652).^[2][6] Reality-based is from 1960, first in marriage counselling,^[2] and reality television from 1991.^[2]

Timeline

• 1550 – the quality of being real.^[6]
• 1646 – a real thing or fact.^[6]
• 1647 – what is real, all real things.^[6]
• 1652 – sincerity.^[6]
• 1679 – in reality.^[6]
• 1960 – reality-based.^[2]
• 1991 – reality television.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The quality or state of being actual or true.
2. Something that actually exists or happens: the dream became a reality.
3. The totality of real things and events; the world as it is, not as one might wish.
4. (philosophy) That which exists objectively and independently of the mind.

Word family

• antireality
• irreality
• nonreality
• unreality
• reality-based
• reality check
• reality principle
• reality testing

Related words

• realia
• realism
• realize
• realization
• realty
• real
• rebus

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 k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster