real: [15] Real and its various derivatives (such as realism [19], reality [16], and realize [17]) go back ultimately to Latin rēs ‘thing’, a word of uncertain origin related to Sanskrit rās ‘riches’. It had a post-classical derivative reālis, which English originally acquired via Anglo-Norman real and used strictly in the legal sense ‘of fixed property’ (as in real estate). The broader modern range of meanings was probably instigated by the reintroduction of the word direct from Latin in the mid-16th century. => realize
