Etymologically
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verus

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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
  • 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