realty

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English realte,^[2][3] probably partly formed from English real + -ty and partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman realté (“real property, right to land; fact, actuality”),^[4] itself formed from real and the suffix -té.^[4] Anglo-Norman used the noun for property and land, as opposed to persons, from 1292.^[5] Etymonline and the MED derive the English word from Old French realité or realté,^[6][3] and Etymonline traces it through Medieval Latin reālitās to Late Latin reālis (“actual”),^[6] from Latin rēs (“property, goods, thing”).^[6] Barnhart, Klein and Merriam-Webster take the property sense as an English formation from the adjective.^[7][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The quality of being real, reality: 1440, in the Promptorium Parvulorum, which glosses it with Medieval Latin realitas.^[4][3] Etymonline dates this sense to the mid-15th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word followed the legal sense of real, "relating to things", especially property.^[6][4] From 1567 it meant a right of possession,^[4][10] a sense Barnhart dates to 1618 and Etymonline to the 1540s.^[7][6] From 1616, in Selden, it meant real property in law;^[4][9] Barnhart and Etymonline date the sense "real estate" only to 1670 and the 1660s.^[7][6] Etymonline explains the notion as the immovable, permanent nature of such property, especially land.^[6] The older senses "reality" and "sincerity, honesty" fell out of use in the 17th century,^[10][4] and the OED notes that the property sense is now chiefly North American and South Asian.^[4]

Timeline

• 1440 – reality, real existence (now rare).^[4][3]
• 1567 – a right of possession (obsolete by 1639).^[4] Barnhart dates it to 1618, Etymonline to the 1540s.^[7][6]
• 1616 – in law, real property; real estate.^[4][9] Barnhart dates it to 1670, Etymonline to the 1660s.^[7][6]
• 1616 – something that is real, a reality.^[4]
• 1619 – sincerity, honesty (obsolete by 1706).^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chiefly North American) Real estate: He has worked in realty for twenty years.^[9][4]
2. (law) Real property; land and other immovable property.^[11][10][4]
3. (rare) The quality of being real; reality.^[4][3]
4. (obsolete, 1567–1639) A right of possession.^[4][10]
5. (obsolete, 1619–1706) Sincerity, honesty.^[4][10]

Related words

• realtor
• real
• reality
• royalty

Usage notes

An obsolete realty meant royalty, royal dignity, or a kingdom, from before 1375 to 1694; it came from Anglo-Norman realté (“kingdom, royal dignity”), from real "royal", and is related to royalty.^[4][8][3] Johnson (1755), following Pearce, took Milton's faith and realty in Paradise Lost to mean loyalty rather than reality.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
3. ^ a b c d e f 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 m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.