Etymograph

English

neoreality

Neoreality comes from French réalité ‘reality’, from Latin reālis ‘existing in fact, having objective existence’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(H)reh₁ís ‘wealth, goods’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(H)reh₁ís1‘wealth, goods’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*reis1‘thing, matter’reconstructed
  3. Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErēs1‘thing, object, stuff’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreālis1‘existing in fact, having objective existence’
  5. Medieval Latinmodernreālitā1
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentréalité1‘reality’
  7. English1500–presentreality1
  8. Englishtodayneoreality1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English neoreality

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(H)reh₁ísWiktionary, English neoreality‘wealth, goods’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*reisWiktionary, English neoreality‘thing, matter’reconstructed
  3. Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErēsWiktionary, English neoreality‘thing, object, stuff’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreālisWiktionary, English neoreality‘existing in fact, having objective existence’
  5. Medieval LatinmodernreālitāWiktionary, English neoreality
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentréalitéWiktionary, English neoreality‘reality’
  7. English1500–presentrealityWiktionary, English neoreality
  8. EnglishtodayneorealityWiktionary, English neoreality

A compound of neo- + reality

Proto-Indo-European *nu ‘now’

Proto-Indo-European *néwos ‘new’

Proto-Hellenic *néwos ‘new’

Ancient Greek νέος ‘young’

English neo-

Proto-Indo-European *reh₁ís ‘wealth, goods’

…

Late Latin reālis ‘real’

Medieval Latin reālitās

Middle French realité ‘property, possession’

French réalité ‘quality of being real’

English reality

Linked words

through Classical Latin rēs ‘thing, object, stuff’

re, realise, realisation, rebus, 17 more

through Latin reālis ‘existing in fact, having objective existence’

real, 16 more

Today it means

noun A substitute for reality.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “neoreality”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(H)reh₁ís / neoreality

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