in vino veritas · proverb — synonym of in wine, there is truth (one tells the truth under the influence of alcohol). It carries an Arena rating of 1585, earned across 32 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, in vino veritas ranks #3,655 of 17,106 for Most Storied Words, #6,578 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #6,997 of 17,128 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #8,991 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
in vino veritas is pronounced /ˌɪn ˈviː.nəʊ ˈvɛ.ɹɪ.tɑːs/.
Why “in vino veritas” is a great word
IN VINO VERITAS — [Proverb] A Latin axiom that truth resides in wine, meaning intoxication loosens the tongue's guard to reveal unvarnished sentiment. From the Latin in ("in") + vino, ablative of vinum ("wine") + veritas ("truth"), popularized in its current form by the 16th-century humanist Erasmus. Unlike the calculated prudence of sobriety or the artful guile of dissimulation, in vino veritas is the chemical unmasking of the inner self. It is the confided office resentment over a third glass, the raw, clumsy declaration of love that daylight would retract, or the blunt, career-ending critique delivered across a dinner table. The proverb endures as a testament to the fragile architecture of our everyday lies, and the brute fact that our deepest self is merely our least edited one, unlocked by a most unreliable jailer.
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Etymology
Borrowed from New Latin in vīnō vēritās (literally “in wine there is truth”), from in (“in”) + vīnō, the ablative singular of vīnum (“wine”) + vēritās (“truth”). While various classical writers in both Greek and Latin make similar statements, the form in vino veritas is from the 16th-century humanist Erasmus, and is first attested in English writing soon afterwards in the same century.
proverb
- Synonym of in wine, there is truth (one tells the truth under the influence of alcohol)e.g.“For quotations using this term, see Citations:in vino veritas.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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