Functionally

How to spell functionally

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce functionally

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does functionally mean?

1. adverbIn terms of how something works or operates, as opposed to its appearance or formal status.

Functionally in a sentence

• The two phone models are functionally identical despite the new casing.

• Although the lift was old, it remained functionally sound after the inspection.

Where does functionally come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb fungi, meaning 'to perform' or 'to carry out a duty', whose past participle stem functus gave rise to the noun functio, 'a performing or execution'. English took 'function' from Latin by way of French in the 1500s, originally describing the proper activity or duty of a person or thing. The adjective 'functional' was layered on later, in the 1600s and 1700s, to mean 'relating to a function' or 'practical in design', and the adverb 'functionally' followed by simply adding the everyday English suffix -ly. The same fungi root quietly survives in 'defunct', literally 'having finished performing', that is, no longer working or alive. The spelling trap is the stacked endings: the silent stretch of -ion-al-ly hides a double letter, since the -al meets the -ly to produce a doubled L that writers often drop.

How the word is built

• funct (from fungi: to perform, execute)
• -ion (noun-forming)
• -al (adjective-forming)
• -ly (adverb-forming)