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Added 9 October 2026

very

/ˈvɛɹi/ adjective

In Latin: maximē, summē, valdē Wiktionary

adjective Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about very at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Precisely as stated.
the very center of town
Being the exact same one; not any other:.
this is the identical room we stayed in before

adverb

Used as intensifiers; `real' is sometimes used informally for `really'; `rattling' is informal.
she was very gifted
Precisely so.
on the very next page

Origin

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 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-, mæġen, sore, sin-, swīþe, (partially) wel.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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