Internally

How to spell internally

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce internally

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does internally mean?

1. adverbIn a way that relates to the inside of something, or that stays within a person, body, or organisation rather than being shown outside.

Internally in a sentence

• The new policy was circulated internally before any public announcement.

• She stayed calm on the surface but was internally furious about the decision.

Where does internally come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin internus, meaning 'inward' or 'on the inside', which was itself formed from the older preposition inter, meaning 'between' or 'within'. Latin produced the adjective internalis for things lying on the inside, and English took up 'internal' in the early 1500s, chiefly in anatomical and medical writing about the body's inner parts. The adverb 'internally' followed naturally by adding the familiar '-ly' ending, and it spread into broader use for anything happening inwardly, privately, or inside an organisation rather than in public. The same inter root sits inside everyday relatives such as 'interior', 'internal', and even 'intern', all sharing the sense of being set within. The spelling trap is the join at the end: writers must keep the full '-al' before adding '-ly', giving the double 'l' in 'internally'.

How the word is built

• intern- (from Latin internus: inward, on the inside)
• -al (adjective suffix)
• -ly (adverb suffix)