本物 (honmono) means “real thing” | MotiTan Japanese Dictionary

More examples

この絵が本物かどうか、専門家に尋ねました。ko no e ga hon mono ka dō ka sen mon ka ni tazu ne ma shi ta

I asked an expert whether this painting was genuine.

Describes something that meets the genuine standard rather than being a copy or imitation.

実物jitsubutsu: The actual object itself, not an image, model, or account of it.

見かけだけでなく、実際に価値や性質を備えているもの。mi ka ke da ke de na ku jis sai ni ka chi ya sei shitsu o sona e te i ru mo no

本物 (honmono) is formed from 本 (hon, "basis" or "origin") and 物 (mono, "thing"), so it denotes the thing with its genuine basis.

In casual speech, 本物だ (honmono da) is a plain way to say something is genuine, while 本物です (honmono desu) uses the polite ending.