Correctly

How to spell correctly

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce correctly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does correctly mean?

1. adverbIn a way that is accurate, true, or free from error.

Correctly in a sentence

• She answered every question on the form correctly.

• The parcel finally arrived because the address was written correctly.

Where does correctly come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb corrigere, meaning 'to make straight' or 'to set right', which was formed from the intensive prefix com- ('altogether') and regere, 'to guide in a straight line' or 'to rule'. The past participle correctus gave English the adjective 'correct', meaning free from error, and the everyday adverb 'correctly' was then built in English by adding the native suffix -ly. English borrowed the family of words through French during the late Middle Ages, around the 1300s and 1400s, when 'correct' first carried the sense of putting faults right. The same regere root sits inside many familiar words, including 'regular', 'direct', and even 'rectangle', all of which share the idea of straightness or rule. The spelling trap is the doubled r: the prefix cor- before a root starting with r leaves two r's together, which writers sometimes reduce to one.

How the word is built

• cor- (from com-, intensive 'altogether')
• rect (from regere 'to guide straight, rule')
• -ly (adverb suffix)