WE RECENTLY WROTE THAT THE NAMING OF VERO is often attributed to Henry T. Gifford’s wife Sarah, who suggested the settlement be named for its Latin meaning, “to speak the truth.”

Henry T. Gifford was one of Vero’s most notable early settlers. He operated a citrus grove business and established Vero’s first mercantile store, which also operated as a post office, express office and railroad ticket office.

But what is the origin and history of the word “Vero?”

It’s origin and history is from the Latin word vērus (“true”).   As a noun it means “Truth” and as an adverb (Latin) it means “Truly, really in truth.”

This appears to be universally “true,” EXCEPT IN FINNISH AND RAPA NUI.

IN FINNISH VERO means Anglo-Norman taxer (“to impose a tax”), from the Latin word taxāre; the present active infinitive of taxō (“I handle”, “I censure”, “I appraise”, “I compute”).

It means money paid to the government other than for transaction-specific goods and services. A burdensome demand.

IN RAPA NUI, Vero is a verb meaning “Throw,” meaning to turn, twist, curl, rack, torture or turn around.

The Rapa Nui are the native Polynesian inhabitants of Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, in the Pacific Ocean.

IN ITALIAN, Vero is “vērus,” used as a noun, adverb, adjective and a verb.

As a noun it means: “truth”

As a adverb it means “truly, really, in truth.”

As a verb, it means: “I tell the truth.”

IN SPANISH, Vero is also vērus (“true”), but only used as an adjective.  vero (masc.) (fem. vera, masc. pl. veros, fem. pl. veras)

It means: “true,” “real.”

IN PORTUGESE, Vero is an adjective, meaning “true,” “real,” and “genuine.”

IN Volapük, vero is adverb, meaning “truly.”

What is Volapük?

Volapük(/ˈvɒləpʊk/ in English;[2] [volaˈpyk] in Volapük) is a constructed language, created in 1879–1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a Roman Catholic priest in Baden, Germany. Schleyer felt that God had told him in a dream to create an international language.

A translation of Vero in Volapük is “come è vero Dio,” meaning “I swear to God.”

IN ESPERANTO, Vero is a noun meaning “truth.”

Esperanto was created in 1887 by Dr. L. L. Zamenhof to be a second language that would allow people who speak different native languages to communicate, yet at the same time to retain their own languages and cultural identities. Zamenhof grew up in Bialystok, Poland, where different peoples were not separated by a geographical barrier, but a cultural and language barrier. While he realized that a common language would not end the cultural barrier, it would enable ordinary people, not politicians, to have cross national conversations. To this end, he created Esperanto, a language that would be easy for most people to learn, due to it’s logical, regular design.

ACCORDING TO Wordreference.com, other translations of the word Vero are:

As an adjective: “authentic,” “loyal,” “sincere,” “reliable” and “real.”

A phrase using Vero as an adjective meaning “loyal” is: “I veri amici non ti abbandonano mai” meaning: “loyal friends never abandon you.”

As a noun: “in person” and “reality.”

VERO SHARES SIMILAR MEANING with and/or has multiple Latin Word interpretations for the following Latin Words: Equidem (truly, indeed; for my part), Iam (now, by now, already) and Profecto (truly, really, and indeed).

ALSO, IN LATIN, THE PHRASE “vītam impendere vērō” means “to devote one’s life to truth.”

NOW WHAT IS THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE WORD “TRUTH?”

According to WordSence.eu, the word “truth is derived “from Middle English, from Old English trēowþ, trīewþ (“truth, veracity, faith, fidelity, loyalty, honour, pledge, covenant”), from Proto-Germanic *triwwiþō (“promise, covenant, contract”), from Proto-Indo-European *drū- (“tree”), from Proto-Indo-European *deru- (“firm, solid”), equivalent to true + -th. Cognate with Icelandic tryggð (“loyalty, fidelity”).”

Sources: Wikipedia, Wordsence.eu, INCollinsdictionary.com, Wordreference.com, Wiktionary and Latin Word List.