Fully
adverbCompletely or to the greatest possible extent.
How to spell fully
5 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce fully
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does fully mean?
- adverbCompletely or to the greatest possible extent.
Fully in a sentence
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The invoice has been fully paid and the account is now clear.
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She was fully aware of the risks before signing the contract.
Where does fully come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
The word grows from the Old English adjective 'full', meaning 'filled' or 'complete', a native Germanic term with close cousins in Dutch 'vol' and German 'voll'. Attaching the common adverb-forming ending '-ly' (itself from Old English '-lice', literally 'in the manner of') produced 'fullice', which over the centuries smoothed into the modern 'fully'. The sense has stayed remarkably stable: it has long meant 'completely' or 'to the greatest extent'. The spelling trap lies in the join, because 'full' already ends in a double 'l' and the suffix begins with 'l', yet English keeps only the two original l's rather than tripling them, giving 'fully' and not 'fullly'. The same pattern shapes the related adjective 'full' losing one 'l' in compounds such as 'careful' and 'useful'.
How the word is built
- full (complete, entire)
- -ly (adverb suffix)
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