Phrase guide

in vino veritas

proverb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • ĭn′ vē′nō vĕ′rĭ-täs
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌɪn ˈviː.nəʊ ˈvɛ.ɹɪ.tɑːs/
  • Canada, General-American: /ˌɪn ˈvi.noʊ ˈvɛ.ɹɪ.tɑs/
  • Canada: /ˌɪn ˈvi.noʊ ˈvɛ.ɹɪ.tɒs/
  • Australian: /ˌɪn ˈviː.nəʉ ˈve.ɹɪ.tɐːs/
  • New-Zealand: /ˌən ˈviː.nɐʉ ˈve.ɹə.tɐːs/
  • Scotland: /ˌɪn ˈvi.no ˈvɛ.ɹɪ.tas/
  • India: /ˌin ˈviː.noː ˈve.ɾi.ʈaːs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

proverb

Meaning 1

Synonym of in wine, there is truth (one tells the truth under the influence of alcohol)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • For quotations using this term, see Citations:in vino veritas.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: in wine, there is truth

Antonyms: none provided

History

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.