Etymograph

English

really

Really comes from Middle English really, from real ‘real, true’ + -ly; real comes from Old French reel, from Late Latin reālis.

  1. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEreālis1‘real’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reel1‘real’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500real1‘real, true’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500really1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1751really1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English really
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1751, John Roche, Moravian Heresy: “We are to believe that by an extraordinary Conception…”.

Lineage

  1. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEreālisWiktionary, English really‘real’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reelWiktionary, English really‘real’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500realWiktionary, English really‘real, true’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reallyWiktionary, English really
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1751reallyWiktionary, English really. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1751, John Roche, Moravian Heresy: “We are to believe that by an extraordinary Conception…”

Linked words

through Middle English real

realism, unreal, realist, 9 more

Today it means

adv In a way or manner that is real, not unreal.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “really”. 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 / Late Latin reālis / really

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