Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Reality"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Reality \Re*al"i*ty\, n.; pl. {Realities}. [Cf. F.
r['e]alit['e], LL. realitas. See 3d {Real}. and cf. 2d
{Realty}.]
1. The state or quality of being real; actual being or
existence of anything, in distinction from mere
appearance; fact.
A man fancies that he understands a critic, when in
reality he does not comprehend his meaning.
--Addison.
2. That which is real; an actual existence; that which is not
imagination, fiction, or pretense; that which has
objective existence, and is not merely an idea.
And to realities yield all her shows. --Milton.
My neck may be an idea to you, but it is reality to
me. --Beattie.
3. [See 1st {Realty}, 2.] Loyalty; devotion. [Obs.]
To express our reality to the emperor. --Fuller.
4. (Law) See 2d {Realty}, 2.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
reality
n 1: all of your experiences that determine how things appear to
you; "his world was shattered"; "we live in different
worlds"; "for them demons were as much a part of reality
as trees were" [syn: {world}]
2: the state of being actual or real: "the reality of his
situation slowly dawned on him" [syn: {realness}, {realism}]
[ant: {unreality}]
3: the state of the world as it really is rather than as you
might want it to be; "businessmen have to face harsh
realities"
4: the quality possessed by something that is real [ant: {unreality}]
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