Conventionally

How to spell conventionally

14 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce conventionally

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does conventionally mean?

1. adverbIn a way that follows accepted custom, tradition, or established practice.

Conventionally in a sentence

• The report was conventionally formatted, with headings and page numbers in the usual places.

• Conventionally grown vegetables sit on the shelf beside the organic produce.

Where does conventionally come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This adverb traces back through several layers to the Latin verb convenire, which literally meant 'to come together', built from con- 'together' and venire 'to come'. From convenire grew the noun conventio, meaning 'an agreement' or 'a coming together', the same notion that produced the everyday word 'convention'. English took 'convention' from Old French in the 1400s, first for a formal assembly or agreement, and later for an accepted custom or established practice. The adjective 'conventional' followed, describing anything done according to agreed custom, and the adverb 'conventionally' simply adds the -ly ending to mean 'in the customary way'. The long stack of suffixes is exactly where the spelling traps lie, since the unstressed -tion-al-ly run blurs together when spoken and tempts writers to drop a syllable.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• vent (from venire: to come)
• -ion (noun suffix)
• -al (adjective suffix)
• -ly (adverb suffix)