Officially

How to spell officially

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce officially

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does officially mean?

1. adverbIn a formal or authorised manner, or according to a recognised authority.

Officially in a sentence

• The merger was officially announced at the morning press conference.

• She is officially retired, though she still consults part time.

Where does officially come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin officium, which meant 'duty', 'service', or 'official function', itself a contraction of opus 'work' and facere 'to do' or 'to make'. From officium came the adjective officialis, describing anything connected to an official duty or office. English took in 'official' through Old French during the 1300s, and the adverb 'officially' developed naturally by adding the native English ending '-ly'. The spelling trap lives in the run of letters in the middle: the doubled 'f' inherited from Latin, the '-cial' that sounds like a simple 'shul', and then the layering of two suffixes, '-ial' followed by '-ly', which doubles the 'l'. Recognising that the word is built from 'official' plus '-ly' explains exactly why there are two l's at the end.

How the word is built

• offic- (from officium: duty, service)
• -ial (adjective suffix)
• -ly (adverb suffix)