Word of the Day Archive
Wednesday September 6, 2006
verisimilitude \ver-uh-si-MIL-i-tood, -tyood\
, 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.
The intention of the unities is to enhance the verisimilitude of dramatic works by making the time the spectator is watching the performance coincide with the time in which the entire action takes place (unity of time)...
-- Federica Brunori Deigan, Alessandro Manzoni's The Count of Carmagnola and Adelchis, 2004
Todorov argues most persuasively that verisimilitude is not to be confused with truth in narrative, and indeed truth is dispensable while verisimilitude is not.
-- Terry J. Peavler, Individuations, 1987
Verisimilitude comes from the Latin roots vērum + similis literally meaning "likeness to truth."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for verisimilitude
