real
pronunciation
How to pronounce real in British English:
UK [ˈriːəl]
How to pronounce real in American English:
US [ˈriːəl]
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- Noun:
- any rational or irrational number
- an old small silver Spanish coin
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- Adjective:
- being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory
- no less than what is stated; worthy of the name
- being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something
- not synthetic or spurious; of real or natural origin
- not to be taken lightly
- possible to be treated as fact
- being value measured in terms of purchasing power
- having substance or capable of being treated as fact; not imaginary
- (of property) fixed or immovable
- coinciding with reality
- founded on practical matters
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- Adverb:
- used as intensifiers; `real' is sometimes used informally for `really'; `rattling' is informal
Word Origin
- real
- real: [15] Real and its various derivatives (such as realism [19], reality [16], and realize [17]) go back ultimately to Latin rēs ‘thing’, a word of uncertain origin related to Sanskrit rās ‘riches’. It had a post-classical derivative reālis, which English originally acquired via Anglo-Norman real and used strictly in the legal sense ‘of fixed property’ (as in real estate). The broader modern range of meanings was probably instigated by the reintroduction of the word direct from Latin in the mid-16th century.=> realize
- real (adj.)
- early 14c., "actually existing, true;" mid-15c., "relating to things" (especially property), from Old French reel "real, actual," from Late Latin realis "actual," in Medieval Latin "belonging to the thing itself," from Latin res "matter, thing," of uncertain origin. Meaning "genuine" is recorded from 1550s; sense of "unaffected, no-nonsense" is from 1847. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand. [Margery Williams, "The Velveteen Rabbit"] Real estate, the exact term, is first recorded 1660s, but in Middle English real was used in law in reference to immovable property, paired with, and distinguished from, personal. Noun phrase real time is early 19c. as a term in logic and philosophy, 1953 as an adjectival phrase; get real, usually an interjection, was U.S. college slang in 1960s, reached wide popularity c. 1987.
- real (n.)
- "small Spanish silver coin," 1580s, from Spanish real, noun use of real (adj.) "regal," from Latin regalis "regal" (see regal). Especially in reference to the real de plata, which circulated in the U.S. till c. 1850 and in Mexico until 1897. The same word was used in Middle English in reference to various coins, from Old French real, cognate of the Spanish word. The old system of reckoning by shillings and pence is continued by retail dealers generally; and will continue, as long as the Spanish coins remain in circulation. [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848] He adds that, due to different exchange rates of metal to paper money in the different states, the Spanish money had varying names from place to place. The Spanish real of one-eighth of a dollar or 12 and a half cents was a ninepence in New England, one shilling in New York, elevenpence or a levy in Pennsylvania, "and in many of the Southern States, a bit." The half-real was in New York a sixpence, in New England a fourpence, in Pennsylvania a fip, in the South a picayune.
Example
- 1. What is the real value ?
- 2. But the explosion was real .
- 3. Some of that is real .
- 4. The real difficulty is credibility .
- 5. There is little real choice .