An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
English-French-Persian

1) An inclination or concern for the actual or real, as distinguished from the abstract or speculative.
2) Philo.: The doctrine that material objects exist independently of our perception of them.
3) Art, literature: The attempt to describe the objects or social conditions as they actually are, without idealization or presentation in abstract form.

→ real; → -ism.