verisimilitude

noun

Etymology: From Middle French vérisimilitude, from Latin vērīsimilitūdō (“likeness to truth”), more correctly written separately as vērī similitūdō; from vērī, genitive singular of vērus (“true, real”), + similitūdō (“likeness, resemblance”).

1. The property of seeming true, of resembling reality; resemblance to reality.
2. A statement which merely appears to be true.
3. Faithfulness to its own rules; internal cohesion.

   “On July 12, Madame filed suit for divorce, naming one Jane McManus as his principal mistress. Other adulteries were noted in the interest of verisimilitude.”