Where does “surreal” come from?
surreal (English) comes from English surrealism, from French surréalisme, from French réalisme, from French réel, from Middle French real, from Old French reel, from Latin reālis, from Latin rēs — small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble.
surreal (English): Resembling a dream: fantastic and incongruous;...
Definitions
- Resembling a dream: fantastic and incongruous;...
Ancestry of “surreal”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | surrealism | An artistic movement and an aesthetic philosophy... |
| 2 | French | surréalisme | surrealism |
| 3 | French | réalisme | realism |
| 4 | French | réel | real |
| 5 | Middle French | real | royal; Alternative form of royal |
| 6 | Old French | reel | — |
| 7 | Latin | reālis | real |
| 8 | Latin | rēs | thing, object, stuff |
| 9 | Latin | vindicatio | civil lawsuit; protection, defence; vindication;... |
| 10 | Latin | vindicō | to lay claim to as one's own (often with sibi) |
| 11 | Latin | vindex | claimant, vindicator |
| 12 | Latin | dīcō | to say, talk, speak, utter, mention |
| 13 | Latin | -tiō | tion, -ation, -ing |
| 14 | Latin | dissertātiō | (spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition |
| 15 | Latin | dissertus | arranged, disposed; explained |
| 16 | Latin | disserere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 17 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 18 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 19 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 20 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |