Actively

How to spell actively

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce actively

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does actively mean?

1. adverbIn an energetic, engaged, or deliberately involved manner.

Actively in a sentence

• The manager actively encouraged staff to share their ideas.

• She is actively looking for a new flat closer to work.

Where does actively come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This adverb is built on the adjective 'active', which English took from the Old French 'actif' in the late 1300s, itself descended from the Latin 'activus', meaning 'practical' or 'given to action'. That Latin word grew from 'agere', a verb that literally meant 'to do, to drive, or to set in motion', the same root that gives us 'agent', 'agitate', and 'act' itself. The original sense contrasted the busy, doing life with the contemplative one, a distinction medieval writers cared about deeply. The English adverb form, adding the native '-ly' ending, simply means 'in an energetic or engaged way'. Because the word stacks two suffixes onto a short root, writers sometimes pause over whether the 'e' of 'active' survives: it does not, since '-ly' attaches cleanly after the dropped 'e'.

How the word is built

• act (from Latin agere: to do, drive)
• -ive (adjective: tending to)
• -ly (adverb: in a manner)