real

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
real1 /riːl/

▶adjective

• 1 actually existing or occurring in fact; not imagined or supposed.

  ■ Philosophy relating to something as it is, not merely as it may be described or distinguished.

• 2 not artificial or made in imitation of something; genuine.

  ■ rightly so called; proper: he's my idea of a real man.

• 3 significant; serious: a real danger.

• 4 adjusted for changes in the value of money; assessed by purchasing power.

• 5 Mathematics (of a number or quantity) having no imaginary part.

• 6 Optics (of an image) such that the light that forms it actually passes through it; not virtual.

▶adverb informal, chiefly N. Amer. really; very.

– phrases
for real informal used to emphasize that something is genuine or serious.

– derivatives
realness noun.

– origin ME (as a legal term meaning ‘relating to things, especially real property’): from Anglo-Norman Fr., from late L. realis, from L. res ‘thing’.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
real2 /reɪˈɑːl/

▶noun

• 1 the basic monetary unit of Brazil since 1994, equal to 100 centavos.

• 2 a former coin and monetary unit of various Spanish-speaking countries.

– origin Sp. and Port., lit. ‘royal’ (adj. used as n.).