vere

Forms

vērē (comparative vērius, superlative vērissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin vērus (“true”) + -ē.^[2][1] De Vaan traces vērus to Proto-Italic *wēro- and Proto-Indo-European *weh₁-ro- (“true”), cognate with Old Irish fír (“true”), Old High German wār (“true”) and Old Church Slavonic вѣра (věra, “faith”).^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler first records it in Plautus,^[4] who has nī vērē perierit, sī cēnāssit domī, “he would really die if he dined at home”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Vērē is “really, truly, indeed”, as opposed to seeming or in name only, also with adjectives, “truly so-and-so” (Cicero: three kinds of Greeks really exist).^[2][1] The comparative vērius is “more correctly” in choosing the better of two words (Cicero).^[2] It is also “in accordance with the truth, correctly” (Plautus) and “truthfully, frankly” (Cicero: vērē tēcum agam, “I will deal frankly with you”).^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “truly, in truth, indeed, rightly”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: nī vērē perierit.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: vērē tēcum agam.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Really, truly, indeed.^[2][1][5]
2. (comparative) More correctly.^[2]
3. Correctly; truthfully, frankly.^[2][5]

Related words

• vērus
• vērō
• vēritās

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson