What does "realia" mean?

Objects from real life or from the real world, as opposed to theoretical constructs or fabricated examples.

How do you pronounce "realia"?

Pronounced //ɹeɪˈɑːlɪə//.

//ɹeɪˈɑːlɪə// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Objects from real life or from the real world, as opposed to theoretical constructs or fabricated examples. plural, plural-only
"It might be possible, for example, to work backwards from the known realia of Visigothic Spain."
2
Words and expressions for culture-specific material elements. plural, plural-only
3
Physical objects in a library collection that do not fit into traditional categories of media, whose media are the objects themselves, as opposed to their informational content, such as artifacts, tools, memorabilia, and naturally-occurring specimens. plural, plural-only
""We acquire entire collections of materials for research purposes," explains Saundra Taylor, curator of manuscripts at the Lilly Library at Indiana University in Bloomington. "That inevitably includes something that's not books or manuscripts.""

"It might be possible, for example, to work backwards from the known realia of Visigothic Spain."

From Late Latin realia, neuter plural of realis (“real”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.