English
really
Really comes from Middle English really, from real ‘real, true’ + -ly; real comes from Old French reel, from Late Latin reālis.
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEreālis‘real’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400reel‘real’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500real‘real, true’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500really
- Englishearliest quotation 1751same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEreālis‘real’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400reel‘real’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500real‘real, true’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500really
- Englishearliest quotation 1751same form
Earliest quotation: 1751, John Roche, Moravian Heresy: “We are to believe that by an extraordinary Conception…”
Formed from real + -ly
Proto-Indo-European *reh₁ís ‘wealth, goods’
…
Latin rēs ‘thing, matter’
Late Latin reālis ‘actual’
Old French reel
Middle English real ‘real, true’
English real
Linked words
through Middle English real
Today it means
adv In a way or manner that is real, not unreal.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Late Latin reālis / really