See Also: Real Needs(money)
Real Value(money)
real(2)(dictionary)
real(3)(dictionary)
Real GDP(money)
M-real(finance)
Real IRA, the(dictionary)
REAL(law)
Real(money)
real(1)(dictionary)

real(2) (iou)



real adjective2, noun2, & adverb. LME.
[Orig. from Anglo-Norman (= Old French reel); later from its source, late Latin realis, from Latin res thing: see -AL1. Cf. RIAL noun.]
A. adjective.
I.
Law.
a. Of an action: for the recovery of a specific thing. LME.
b. Consisting of or pertaining to immovable property such as lands and buildings. LME.
A. Robertson Statutes..to prevent the Church..from getting hold of real property. K. Vonnegut Real estate and stocks.
Attached or pertaining to scholastic realism. E16-M17.
Relating to or concerned with things. L16.
b. Of a written character: representing things instead of sounds; ideographic. E17-E18.
II.
That is actually and truly such; that is properly so called; genuine; natural, not artificial or depicted; actually present, not merely apparent. M16.
G. B. Shaw It would be a real kindness. E. Roosevelt I had no real knowledge. I. Murdoch Surely you can't mix plastic bullrushes..with real flowers?
b. Reckoned by purchasing power rather than monetary or nominal value. L18.
Glasgow Herald Real earnings have fallen.
c. Music. Of a sequence or a fugal answer: transposed so as to preserve the intervals of the original melody or subject. Cf. TONAL 1b. M19.
Actually existing as a state or an object; having a foundation in fact; actually occurring or happening. L16.
E. Bowen Nothing was real that happened outside. W. H. Auden Where real toads may catch imaginary flies. E. Caldwell Wondering if what was taking place was real or whether she was dreaming. A. Thwaite It was not until 1889 that Ibsen gained any real fame.
b. Philosophy. Having an existence in fact and not merely in appearance, thought, or language; having an absolute and necessary, not merely a contingent, existence. E18.
a. Sincere, straightforward, honest; loyal, true. L16-E18.
b. Free from nonsense, affectation, or pretence; aware of or in touch with real life. M19.
Corresponding to actuality; correct, true. L17.
J. Locke Ideas of substance are real, when they agree with the existence of things.
Math. Of a quantity: having no imaginary part. E18.
Physics. Of an image: such that the light forming it actually reaches it; not virtual. M19.
Special collocations & phrases: chattels real: see CHATTEL 2. get real colloq. (usu. in imper.) stop being foolishly unrealistic. real account: recording assets and liabilities as opp. to receipts and payments. real ale draught beer brewed and stored in what is regarded as the traditional way, with secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed. real line Math. a notional line in which every real number is conceived of as represented by a point. real money (a) current coin or notes; cash; (b) colloq. a large sum of money; (c) colloq. the coinage or currency in which one habitually reckons. real presence Christian Church the actual presence of Christ's body and blood in the Eucharistic elements. real school = REALSCHULE. real tennis: see TENNIS noun 1. real time the actual time during which a process or event occurs, esp. one analysed by a computer as it happens. suit real: see SUIT noun 1b. the real McCoy: see MCCOY. the real Simon Pure: see SIMON PURE noun. the real thing (a) the thing itself, as opp. to an imitation or counterfeit; slang = genuine article s.v. ARTICLE noun 10; (b) true love, as opp. to infatuation or flirtation. the real world the world as it actually exists, rather than any imagined, fictitious, or desired world. will the real please stand up?: see STAND verb.
b. noun.
A philosophical realist. E16-L17.
A real thing; a thing having (or conceived as having) a real existence. E17.
the real, that which actually exists, as opp. to a counterfeit or what is abstract or notional. E19.
Math. A real number. M19.
Phrases: for real colloq. as a serious or actual concern; in earnest.
C. adverb. Really; very. Scot. & N. Amer. colloq. L19.
G. Jackson I felt real bad about that. D. Lodge You..must have lunch..real soon.
realness noun M17.