English

keep it real

/ˈkiːp ɪt ˈɹiːl/
To perform an individual’s experience of being black in the United States.

    Etymology graph

    • inherited
    • borrowed
    • derived
    • parts
    • meaning component
    • sound component
    • related
    React Flow

    Click a node to zoom in · double-click to open it

    Origin

    From keep + it + real.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • partEnglishkeep “To continue in (a course or mode of action); to not intermit or fall from; to uphold or maintain.”
      • inheritedMiddle Englishkepen “to keep, guard, look after, watch”
        • inheritedOld Englishcēpan “to seize, hold, observe”
      • inheritedMiddle Englishkepe
    • partEnglishit “The third-person singular neuter personal pronoun used to refer to an inanimate object, abstract en…”
      • inheritedMiddle Englishit
        • inheritedOld Englishhit “it”
    • partEnglishreal “True, genuine, not merely nominal or apparent.”
      • inheritedMiddle Englishreal
        • borrowedOld Frenchreel
      • borrowedSpanishreal “royal”
        • derivedLatinrēgālis “regal, royal”
      • borrowedPortuguesereal
        • inheritedOld Galician-Portuguesereal

    Sources