Wiktionary

reality

See also: Reality

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From French réalité (“quality of being real”), from Middle French realité (“property, possession”), from Medieval Latin reālitās, from Late Latin reālis (“real”), equivalent to real +‎ -ity. 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. First attested in c. 1540.

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ɹiˈælɪti/, /ɹiˈæləti/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ælɪti

NounEdit

reality (usually uncountable, plural realities)

  1. The state of being actual or real; realness.
    The reality of the crash scene on TV dawned upon him only when he saw the victim was no actor but his friend.
    • 2019 January 7, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: Pattern Screamers”, in The Exploring Series‎[1], archived from the original on 11 January 2023, 0:11 from the start:
      While the SCP universe is, of course, filled with things that we would certainly not consider "real", most of the SCPs are tangible or perceivable in some way. There are those concepts, however, whose reality is debatable, even to the SCP Foundation, begging them to ask the question of what, exactly, is real.
  2. The real world.
    • 1712 February 13 (Gregorian calendar)​, Joseph Addison; Richard Steele [et al.], “SATURDAY, February 2, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 291; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
      A man very often 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:
      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.
  3. A real entity, event, or other fact.
    The ultimate reality of life is that it ends in death.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
      And to realities yield all her shows.
    • 1770, James Beattie, Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth
      My neck, Sir, may be an idea to you, but to me it is a reality.
    • 2005 October 25, European Court of Human Rights, Wypych v. Poland‎[2], 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.
    • 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 […].
  4. The entirety of all that is real.
    • 2008 July 5, Russell T Davies; Graeme Harper, director, “Journey's End”, in Doctor Who, season 4 [30], episode 13, spoken by Davros (Julian Bleach):
      Across the entire Universe. Never stopping, never faltering, never fading. People and planets and stars will become dust. And the dust will become atoms and the atoms will become... nothing. And the wavelength will continue, breaking through the rift at the heart of the Medusa Cascade into every dimension, every parallel, every single corner of creation. This is my ultimate victory, Doctor! The DESTRUCTION! Of REALITY! ITSELF!
  5. An individual observer's own subjective perception of that which is real.
  6. (obsolete) Loyalty; devotion.
  7. (law, obsolete) Realty; real estate.

SynonymsEdit

AntonymsEdit

HyponymsEdit

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

CollocationsEdit

  • harsh reality
  • stark reality
  • brutal reality
  • grimreality
  • bitter reality

TranslationsEdit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Further readingEdit

AnagramsEdit

ItalianEdit

 
Italian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia it

EtymologyEdit

Clipping of reality show, from English reality show.

NounEdit

reality m (plural realities)

  1. (television) reality show
    Synonym: reality show

Further readingEdit

  • reality in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

PortugueseEdit

 
Portuguese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pt

EtymologyEdit

Pseudo-anglicism, a clipping of reality show, from English reality show.

NounEdit

reality m (plural realities)

  1. (Brazil, television) reality show
    Synonym: reality show

SpanishEdit

 
Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia es

EtymologyEdit

Clipping of reality show, from unadapted borrowing from English reality show.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

reality m (plural realities or realitys)

  1. (television) reality show
    Synonyms: reality show, programa de telerrealidad
    • 2021 October 26, Celia Fernández, “El activismo altruista como carne de ‘reality’”, in El País‎[3]:
      Hace un mes fueron precisamente las protestas (digitales) las que tumbaron el estreno de The Activist, un reality estadounidense al que se acusó de querer mercantilizar el altruismo, promover la rivalidad entre causas sociales y reducir su éxito al alcance en redes de quienes defienden los derechos humanos.
      (please add an English translation of this quote)

Usage notesEdit

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further readingEdit

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