reality
Contents
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
[circa 1540] From French réalité (“quality of being real”), Middle French realité (“property, possession”), from Medieval Latin realitas, from Late Latin realis (“real”). Recorded since 1550 as a legal term in the sense of “fixed property” (compare real estate, realty); the sense “real existence” is attested from 1647.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
reality (usually uncountable, plural realities)
- The state of being actual or real.
- The reality of the crash scene on TV dawned upon him only when he saw the victim was no actor but his friend.
- Joseph Addison (1672-1719)
- A man fancies that he understands a critic, when in reality he does not comprehend his meaning.
- 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, OCLC 5661828:
- As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish, […]. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get. […] I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.
- 2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 19:
- It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. It is a tax system that is pivotal in creating the increasing inequality that marks most advanced countries today […].
- A real entity, event or other fact.
- The ultimate reality of life is that it ends in death.
- John Milton (1608-1674)
- And to realities yield all her shows.
- James Beattie (1735-1803)
- My neck may be an idea to you, but it is reality to me.
- 2005 October 25, European Court of Human Rights, Wypych v. Poland[1], number 2428/05:
- Given the economic realities of contemporary Poland, a requirement to provide information on movable assets which exceed PLN 10,000 in value cannot be held to be excessive.
- The entirety of all that is real.
- An individual observer's own subjective perception of that which is real.
- (obsolete) Loyalty; devotion.
- Thomas Fuller (1606-1661)
- To express our reality to the emperor.
- Thomas Fuller (1606-1661)
- (law, obsolete) Realty; real estate.
SynonymsEdit
HyponymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
Terms related to reality
TranslationsEdit
state of being actual or real
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a real entity, event etc.
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entirety of all that is real
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an individual observer's subjective perception
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Usage notesEdit
Adjectives that collocate with reality include: harsh; stark; brutal; grim; bitter