Real
/ˈriː.əl/noun
Actually existing or true, not imagined or fake.
Did you know?English real came through Old French from Latin rēālis, a word tied to thinghood and legal reality, not mysticism — but its deep root is the same one behind modern words for “thing” and “matter,” giving it a strangely tangible force.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dʰeh₁-
“to put, place, set”
Latin
Latin
rēs
“thing, affair, matter”
Late Latin
Latin
rēālis
“of things, relating to things; actual”
Old French
Old French
reel
“real, actual”
Middle English
English
real
“real, actual; pertaining to things or property”
Modern English
English
real
“actually existing or true, not imagined or fake”