Reality

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɹiːˈælɪti/

Definitions

1. The state of things as they actually exist, independent of what people wish or imagine them to be
2. The existence of circumstances as they truly are, free from subjective interpretations or illusions
3. The condition of being that reflects actual events and truths, irrespective of individual beliefs or perceptions

Etymology: The word began as a property term. Around 1550 English lawyers used "reality" to mean fixed property, the same sense that survives in "realty" and "real estate," where "real" meant land and buildings rather than goods. The sense that now dominates, the state of things as they actually are, appeared only later, in the 1640s, when it began to contrast with what people merely imagined or wished for. The path ran through France. English took the word from French "réalité," which meant "quality of being real" and earlier "property, possession." That French form came from medieval Latin "reālitās," built on the Late Latin adjective "reālis," meaning "real." Beneath that sits the familiar English "-ity" ending, a suffix that turns an adjective into an abstract noun, so "real" becomes "reality" much as "rare" becomes "rarity."

Synonyms: existence, truth, fact, actuality, veracity

Antonyms: fantasy, illusion, unreality, falsehood, dream