Nearly

How to spell nearly

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce nearly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does nearly mean?

1. adverbAlmost, but not quite or not completely.

Nearly in a sentence

• The meeting lasted nearly three hours.

• She had nearly finished the report when the power failed.

Where does nearly come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is built from the native English adjective 'near', which traces back to the Old English 'neah', meaning 'close by', and its comparative form 'nearra', meaning 'closer'. The base 'near' shares Germanic roots with similar words in Old Norse ('naer') and Dutch ('na'), all carrying the sense of nearness in space. The adverb-forming suffix '-ly', from Old English '-lice', was added to produce 'nearly', which first appeared in the 1500s. Originally it could mean 'closely' or 'intimately', as in a near relationship, but over time the dominant modern sense narrowed to 'almost' or 'not quite all the way'. The spelling stays reliably regular, simply joining 'near' and '-ly' without dropping or changing letters.

How the word is built

• near (close in space or degree)
• -ly (adverb suffix)