Etymologically
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reality

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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

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