Orally

How to spell orally

6 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce orally

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does orally mean?

1. adverbBy means of the mouth, whether by speaking aloud or by swallowing something.

Orally in a sentence

• The medicine must be taken orally twice a day with food.

• Candidates present their findings orally before a panel of examiners.

Where does orally come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This adverb is built on the adjective 'oral', which English took in the early 1600s from the Latin adjective oralis, itself formed from os, with the stem or-, meaning 'the mouth'. The same Latin root for mouth gives us a small family of related words, including 'oration' for a formal spoken speech and the verb 'orate', all tied to the idea of words coming out of the mouth. From that root, 'orally' developed two everyday strands: doing something by means of speech, and taking something into the body through the mouth, as with medicine. The crucial spelling trap is the near-identical sounding 'aurally', which comes instead from Latin auris meaning 'the ear'; one word concerns the mouth and the other the ear, so keeping the 'or-' (mouth) spelling fixed in mind is what prevents the mix-up.

How the word is built

• oral- (from Latin os, oris: mouth)
• -ly (adverb suffix)