Peacefully

How to spell peacefully

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce peacefully

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does peacefully mean?

1. adverbIn a calm, untroubled way, free from conflict or disturbance.

Peacefully in a sentence

• The protesters gathered peacefully outside the town hall.

• After the long flight the baby finally slept peacefully in the cot.

Where does peacefully come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back through the noun 'peace', which English borrowed from the Old French 'pais' in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. That French word came in turn from the Latin 'pax', meaning a state of calm and an absence of war, often sealed by a formal agreement; the related Latin verb 'pacare' meant 'to make tranquil' or 'to pacify'. English speakers added the native Germanic ending '-ful', meaning 'full of', and then the adverb-forming '-ly', also of Old English origin, to describe an action done in a calm and untroubled manner. The spelling trap lives at the seams: 'peaceful' keeps a single 'l', and adding '-ly' produces the doubled 'll' of 'peacefully', while the silent-feeling 'ea' in 'peace' echoes the original French vowel. The same Latin 'pax' survives in relatives such as 'pacify', 'pact', and even the name of the Pacific Ocean.

How the word is built

• peace (calm, freedom from conflict)
• -ful (full of)
• -ly (adverb suffix)