verus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈweː.rʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈvɛː.rus]^[1]

Forms

vērus (feminine vēra, neuter vērum, comparative vērior, superlative vērissimus, adverb vērē or vērō); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *wēros, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁-ro- (“true”).^[2][1] Cognate with Old Irish fír (“true”), Welsh gwir (“true”), Old High German wār (“true”) and Old Church Slavonic вѣра (věra, “faith”).^[2][3] Isidore derived vērātrum “hellebore” from it, as the plant restores sanity, but de Vaan finds the connection uncertain.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius.^[2] Plautus has a character threaten to show the “false Philocrates” to be the true Tyndarus.^[3] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant real as opposed to counterfeit or to an image, seen as it really is, deserving its name, properly so called, and true to the facts.^[3] The neuter vērum was the truth.^[3] The adverbs vērē and vērō “truly, indeed” are formed from it.^[1]

In medieval legal Latin it was used of a genuine charter, and vēra inquīsītiō was an inquest to establish facts.^[5] Its derivative vēritās gave English verity in the late 14th century, and vērāx “truthful”, through Vulgar Latin, gave English very, first meaning “true”.^[6] It survives in Italian vero and Romanian adevăr “truth”.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^[2][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus contrasts a false Philocrates with the true Tyndarus.^[3][4]
• late 13th century – English very is recorded, meaning “true”.^[6]
• late 14th century – English verity is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Real, genuine (not counterfeit).^[3]
2. Real, actual (not an image).^[3]
3. Properly so called, true.^[3]
4. True to fact.^[3]
5. (neuter as noun) The truth.^[3]
6. (Medieval Latin) (of a charter) Genuine.^[5]

Word family

• advērō
• vērāx
• vērē
• vēridicus
• vērificō
• vērisimilis
• vēritās
• vēriverbium
• vērō
• vērum

Related words

• vērācitās
• vērāciter
• vērificātiō
• vērisimiliter
• vērīsimilitūdō
• vērumtamen
• sevērus
• English very
• English verity

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com