Etymograph

English

very

Very comes from Middle English verray ‘true, correct, factual, authentic, real’, from Classical Latin vērāx ‘truthful’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁ros ‘true’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁ros1‘true’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wēros1‘true’reconstructed
  3. Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvērus1‘true’
  4. Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvērāx1‘truthful’
  5. Early Medieval Latinmodernvērāgus1
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400verai1‘true’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500verray1‘true’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597very1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English very
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]: “[…] I am the veriest varlet that ever chewed…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁rosWiktionary, English very‘true’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wērosWiktionary, English very‘true’reconstructed
  3. Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvērusWiktionary, English very‘true’
  4. Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvērāxWiktionary, English very‘truthful’
  5. Early Medieval LatinmodernvērāgusWiktionary, English very
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400veraiWiktionary, English very‘true’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500verrayWiktionary, English very‘true’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597veryWiktionary, English very. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]: “[…] I am the veriest varlet that ever chewed…”

The story

Over time displaced the use of a number of Germanic words or prefixes to convey the sense 'very' such as fele, full-, mæġen, sore, sin-, swīþe, (partially) wel.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with very, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

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

through Classical Latin vērus ‘true, real, actual’

  • verification ← vērificātiō ← vērificō
  • veritas
  • verity ← verite ← verité ← verité ← vēritās
  • aver ← averren ← averer ← advērō

through Classical Latin vērāx ‘truthful’

  • veracity ← véracité ← veracitie ← vērācitās

through Middle English verray ‘true, correct, factual, authentic, real’

11 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adv To a great extent or degree.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “very”. 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 *weh₁ros / very