Namely

How to spell namely

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce namely

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does namely mean?

1. adverbThat is to say; used to introduce a precise specification of what was just mentioned.

Namely in a sentence

• Only one candidate met every requirement, namely the senior analyst.

• The budget covers two departments, namely marketing and logistics.

Where does namely come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Namely was built inside English itself by joining the noun name to the adverb-forming ending -ly. The noun comes from the Old English nama, a native Germanic word for the label by which a person or thing is known, related to the Latin nomen and the Greek onoma. By the early Middle English period the form namely had appeared, originally carrying the sense 'especially' or 'particularly', a meaning close to 'by name'. Over the following centuries the word narrowed to its modern job: introducing a specific item or list that spells out exactly what was just mentioned. Because it is a transparent compound of two familiar parts, the spelling holds no foreign surprises; the only point to watch is keeping the silent e of name before the -ly.

How the word is built

• name (from Old English nama)
• -ly (adverb suffix)