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verax

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word verax

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*ueh1-ro-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin verus
Latin vero
Latin enimvero
Latin vere
Latin verax
Latin veritas
French vérité
French véritable

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈweː.raːks][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈvɛː.raks][1]

Forms

vērāx (genitive vērācis, adverb vērāciter); third-declension one-termination adjective[1] Comparative vērācior.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin vērus (“true”) + -āx.[2][3][1] De Vaan traces vērus to Proto-Italic *wēro- and Proto-Indo-European *ueh1-ro- (“true”).[3] Cognate with Old Irish fír (“true”), Welsh gwir (“true”) and Old High German wār (“true”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,[3][4] whose Captivi has someone told that if he speaks the truth he will be acting in his own interest: si eris verax, tua ex re facies.[5]

Semantic evolution

It means speaking the truth, truthful, and of things conveying the truth:[2] Cicero has a truthful oracle, senses that report truly and calm, truthful visions in sleep, and Tibullus a truthful witch.[5] Lewis & Short call it very rare.[5] In Church Latin it is true or truthful, and as a noun a truthful speaker,[6] and in medieval Latin it is said of a charter that is genuine rather than forged.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of a man speaking the truth.[5][3][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a truthful oracle and truthful dreams.[5][4]
  • c. 55–19/18 BC – Tibullus, of a truthful witch.[5][4]
  • Medieval Latin – Of a charter: genuine.[7]
  • 1670s – English veracious is formed on its stem.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Speaking the truth, truthful.[2][5][1]
  2. Of things: conveying the truth, true.[2][5]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Of a charter: genuine, not forged.[7]

Noun

  1. A truthful speaker.[6][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Verax.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/verax. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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