Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Realism \Re"al*ism\, n. [Cf. F. r['e]alisme.]
   1. (Philos.)
      (a) An opposed to nominalism, the doctrine that genera and
          species are real things or entities, existing
          independently of our conceptions. According to realism
          the Universal exists ante rem (Plato), or in re
          (Aristotle).
      (b) As opposed to idealism, the doctrine that in sense
          perception there is an immediate cognition of the
          external object, and our knowledge of it is not
          mediate and representative.

   2. (Art & Lit.) Fidelity to nature or to real life;
      representation without idealization, and making no appeal
      to the imagination; adherence to the actual fact.

Source : WordNet®

realism
     n 1: the attribute of accepting the facts of life and favoring
          practicality and literal truth [syn: {pragmatism}]
     2: (philosophy) the philosophical doctrine that physical object
        continue to exist when not perceived [syn: {naive realism}]
     3: the state of being actual or real; "the reality of his
        situation slowly dawned on him" [syn: {reality}, {realness}]
        [ant: {unreality}]
     4: an artistic movement in 19th century France; artists and
        writers strove for detailed realistic and factual
        description [syn: {naturalism}]
     5: (philosophy) the philosophical doctrine that abstract
        concepts exist independent of their names [syn: {Platonism}]