reality

Definition

The state of being actual or real; realness.

Etymology

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.

Example Sentences

• "The reality of the crash scene on TV dawned upon him only when he saw the victim was no actor but his friend."
• "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."
• "A man very often fancies that he understands a critic, when in reality he does not comprehend his meaning."

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