Appropriately

How to spell appropriately

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce appropriately

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does appropriately mean?

1. adverbIn a way that is suitable or fitting for a particular situation.

Appropriately in a sentence

• The staff were asked to dress appropriately for the client meeting.

• She responded appropriately to every question on the panel.

Where does appropriately come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb appropriare, meaning 'to make one's own', which was formed from the prefix ad- 'to' and the adjective proprius 'one's own' or 'special to oneself'. That same proprius is the source of a whole family of English words including 'property', 'proper', and 'proprietor', all carrying the underlying idea of what belongs to a particular person or thing. The verb passed through Old French and entered English in the late 1300s, at first meaning to take something for one's own exclusive use. From the adjective 'appropriate', meaning fitting or suitable to a particular case, the adverb 'appropriately' was built with the ordinary -ly ending. The main spelling trap is the doubled p at the start, inherited from the ad- prefix assimilating before the p of proprius, plus the easily slurred -ate before the -ly.

How the word is built

• ap- (from ad-, to)
• propri (from proprius: one's own)
• -ate (adjective)
• -ly (adverb)