Considerably

How to spell considerably

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce considerably

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does considerably mean?

1. adverbTo a large or noticeable degree; by a significant amount.

Considerably in a sentence

• The new route is considerably faster than the motorway.

• Prices have risen considerably since last year.

Where does considerably come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This adverb traces back to the Latin verb considerare, which meant 'to examine carefully' or 'to contemplate'. The word is often analysed as con- (a strengthening prefix) joined to sidus, the Latin noun for 'star', so its literal flavour was something like 'to study the stars closely', a fitting image for the careful observation that astronomers and augurs once practised. From the act of weighing something thoughtfully, the sense broadened in Old French considerer and then in late Middle English to mean simply 'to think over' or 'to regard'. The adjective 'considerable' grew from this to describe a thing 'worthy of being considered', and from there a thing that was notably large or important. Adding the adverbial -ly gave 'considerably', meaning 'to a large degree', a sense already settled by the seventeenth century. The spelling trap is the unstressed middle syllables: the -sider- and the silent-feeling -able- both reduce to a schwa in speech, so writers must remember the full consider + able + ly chain.

How the word is built

• con- (intensive, from Latin)
• sider (from sidus: star)
• -able (capable of)
• -ly (adverb)