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verisimilitude - 5 dictionary results

ver⋅i⋅si⋅mil⋅i⋅tude

  [ver-uh-si-mil-i-tood, -tyood]
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–noun
1. the appearance or semblance of truth; likelihood; probability: The play lacked verisimilitude.
2. something, as an assertion, having merely the appearance of truth.
Origin:
1595–1605; < L vērīsimilitūdō, equiv. to vērī (gen. sing. of vērum truth) + similitūdō similitude
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ver·i·si·mil·i·tude   (věr'ə-sĭ-mĭl'ĭ-tōōd', -tyōōd')   
n.  
  1. The quality of appearing to be true or real. See Synonyms at truth.
  2. Something that has the appearance of being true or real.

[Latin vērīsimilitūdō, from vērīsimilis, verisimilar; see verisimilar.]
ver'i·si·mil'i·tu'di·nous (-tōōd'n-əs, -tyōōd'-) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Verisimilitude

Ver`i*si*mil"i*tude\, n. [L. verisimilitudo: cf. OF. verisimilitude. See Verisimilar.] The quality or state of being verisimilar; the appearance of truth; probability; likelihood.

Verisimilitude and opinion are an easy purchase; but true knowledge is dear and difficult. --Glanvill.

All that gives verisimilitude to a narrative. --Sir. W. Scott.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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verisimilitude 
1603, from Fr. verisimilitude (1549), from L. verisimilitudo "likeness to truth," from veri, genitive of verum, neut. of verus "true" (see very) + similis "like, similar" (see similar).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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verisimilitude

the semblance of reality in dramatic or nondramatic fiction. The concept implies that either the action represented must be acceptable or convincing according to the audience's own experience or knowledge or, as in the presentation of science fiction or tales of the supernatural, the audience must be enticed into willingly suspending disbelief and accepting improbable actions as true within the framework of the narrative.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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