Inevitably

How to spell inevitably

10 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce inevitably

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does inevitably mean?

1. adverbIn a way that cannot be avoided or prevented; as a certain consequence.

Inevitably in a sentence

• Raising prices will inevitably reduce the number of customers.

• Working late every night inevitably leads to burnout.

Where does inevitably come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin inevitabilis, meaning 'unavoidable'. That adjective was built from the negative prefix in- ('not') attached to evitabilis ('avoidable'), which in turn came from the verb evitare, 'to shun' or 'to avoid'. Evitare itself joins e- (a form of ex-, meaning 'out' or 'away') with vitare, 'to keep clear of'. English took the adjective 'inevitable' in the 1400s, and the adverb 'inevitably' followed naturally by adding the familiar -ly ending. The buried Latin root vitare is also why the spelling keeps the easily skipped vowels in the middle: 'in-ev-it-ably', where the unstressed 'i' before the 't' is exactly the letter writers tend to drop.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• e- (out/away)
• vit (from vitare: to shun, avoid)
• -able (capable of)
• -ly (adverb)