Etymograph

English

verity

Verity comes from Old French verité ‘truth’, from Latin vērus ‘true’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁-1‘true’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁ros2‘true’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wēros2‘true’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvērus1‘true’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēritās1
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400verité1‘truth’
  7. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400verité1uncertain
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500verite1
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602verity1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English verity
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin verus
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “[...] but in the verity of extolment I take…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁-Wiktionary, English verity‘true’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁rosWiktionary, Latin verus‘true’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wērosWiktionary, Latin verus‘true’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvērusWiktionary, English verity‘true’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēritāsWiktionary, English verity
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400veritéWiktionary, English verity‘truth’
  7. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400veritéWiktionary, English verityuncertain
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500veriteWiktionary, English verity
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602verityWiktionary, English verity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “[...] but in the verity of extolment I take…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weh₁- ‘true’

warlock, 5 more

through Latin vērus ‘true’

very, verification, veracity, verily, aver, 7 more

Today it means

noun Truth, fact or reality, especially an enduring religious or ethical truth; veracity.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “verity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin verus. 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 *weh₁- / verity

Shirt and support for this word