very

English Online Dictionary. What means very‎? What does very mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English verray, from Old French verai (“true”), from Early Medieval Latin vērāgus, from Classical Latin vērāx, derived from vērus, from Proto-Italic *wēros, from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁ros.

Distantly cognate with the Old English wǣr (“true”). Over time displaced the use of a number of Germanic words or prefixes to convey the sense 'very' such as fele, full-, mægen, sore, sin-, swith, (partially) wel.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈvɛɹi/
• Rhymes: -ɛɹi
• Homophone: vary (only in accents with the Mary-marry-merry merger)

Adjective

very (not generally comparable, comparative verier, superlative veriest)

1. (literary) True, real, actual.
   • 1659, Henry Hammond, A Paraphrase and Annotations upon All the Books of the New Testament, London: Richard Davis, 2nd edition, The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, Chapter 3, verse 19, p. 517,^[1]

     […] they that think to be wiser then other men, are by so much verier fools then others, and so are discerned to be.
2. The same; identical.
3. With limiting effect: mere.

Usage notes

• very is used exclusively attributively and never predicatively.

Synonyms

• (same, identical): ilk (Scotland, Northern England), selfsame, wicked (Rhode Island)

Derived terms

Descendants

• Solombala English: вери (veri)

Translations

Adverb

very (not comparable)

1. To a great extent or degree.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:very
2. Conforming to fact, reality or rule; true.

   Synonyms: truly, actually, authentically

3. (with superlatives) Used to firmly establish that nothing else surpasses in some respect.

Usage notes

• When used in their senses as degree adverbs, "very" and "too" never modify verbs (except in some dialects influenced by Chinese: see citations).

Derived terms

• very much
• how very dare you
• Very Reverend

Translations

Anagrams

• evry, ev'ry

Malagasy

Adjective

very

1. lost
2. (archaic) enslaved

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old French verai.

Alternative forms

• verai, veray, verra, verray, verre, verrei, verrey, verri, verry
• werai, werrai, wery

Adjective

very (comparative verier)

1. true

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:very.

Adverb

very

1. very

Etymology 2

Verb

very

1. Alternative form of ferien