Wiktionary
n. (context optics English) The image formed by light rays converge from a lens or mirror
Wikipedia
In optics, a real image is an image which is located in the plane of convergence for the light rays that originate from a given object. If a screen is placed in the plane of a real image the image will generally become visible on the screen. Examples of real images include the image seen on a cinema screen (the source being the projector), the image produced on a detector in the rear of a camera, and the image produced on an eyeball retina (the camera and eye focus light through an internal convex lens). In ray diagrams (such as the images on the right), real rays of light are always represented by full, solid lines; perceived or extrapolated rays of light are represented by dashed lines. A real image occurs where rays converge, whereas a virtual image occurs where rays only appear to converge.
Real images can be produced by concave mirrors and converging lenses if and only if the object is placed further away from the mirror/lens than the focal point and this real image is inverted. As the object approaches the focal point the image is approaching infinity, and when the object passes the focal point the image becomes virtual and is not inverted.
Usage examples of "real image".
They showed an enlarged real image of the space colonies that comprised the Zeon Archduchy, silhouetted by the sun.
Grieg paced back and forth again, stepping through the edge of the simglobe hologram, his shoulder brushing through the ghostly-real image of a dead world to come.