Annually

How to spell annually

8 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce annually

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does annually mean?

1. adverbOnce each year, or on a yearly basis.

Annually in a sentence

• The company reviews every salary annually in March.

• The membership fee is charged annually rather than monthly.

Where does annually come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin noun annus, meaning simply 'year'. From annus the Romans built the adjective annualis, meaning 'happening every year' or 'lasting a year', and English absorbed the adjective form 'annual' through Old French annuel during the late medieval period. The adverb 'annually' was then formed on English soil by adding the native ending -ly. The same annus root quietly powers a whole family of familiar words: 'anniversary', 'annuity', and even 'biennial', so once you see annus you can spot the shared 'ann' spine running through all of them. That doubled n is the heart of the spelling trap, because it reflects the Latin original rather than the single sound we actually hear, and the unstressed '-ually' tail invites people to drop or muddle a letter.

How the word is built

• ann- (from Latin annus: year)
• -al (adjective suffix)
• -ly (adverb suffix)