Vérité Etymology - Origin & History

Vérité

/ve.ʁi.te/noun

The French word for truth or truthfulness, also used in English expressions such as cinéma vérité.

Did you know?In Roman tradition, Veritas was personified as a goddess—reportedly the daughter of Saturn—and was imagined as hiding at the bottom of a sacred well.

Etymological Timeline

Proto-Indo-European

PIE

*were-o-

“True or trustworthy; the reconstructed root behind Latin verus.”

Classical Latin

Latin

vērus

“True, genuine, or real.”

Classical Latin

Latin

vēritās

“Truth or truthfulness; the quality of being true.”

Late Latin

Latin

vēritātem

“Accusative form of vēritās, meaning truth.”

12th–13th Century

Old French

verité

“Truth, sincerity, or conformity with fact.”

Modern French

French

vérité

“Truth; also used in cinéma vérité, literally “truthful cinema,” a documentary style emphasizing apparent realism.”

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Etymologos

Etymologos

Vérité

*were-o-

vērus

vēritās

vēritātem

verité

vérité