Popularly

How to spell popularly

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce popularly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does popularly mean?

1. adverbBy or among most people; in a way that is generally believed, known, or favoured by the public.

Popularly in a sentence

• The festival is popularly known as the biggest event of the summer.

• The policy proved popularly supported in every region the survey covered.

Where does popularly come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin populus, meaning 'the people' or 'the common public'. From this came the Latin adjective popularis, which described something that belonged to or was favoured by the people at large. English took up 'popular' through Old French in the late 1400s, originally in the sense of 'concerning the whole population' before it broadened to mean 'widely liked'. The adverb 'popularly' was then formed in English by adding the familiar -ly ending, and it carries the idea of something done or believed by people in general rather than by experts. The same populus root still lives openly in 'population', 'public', and 'populace', which is a useful clue to keeping that double 'p' free zone and the single 'l' steady in the spelling.

How the word is built

• popul- (from populus: the people)
• -ar (adjective suffix: relating to)
• -ly (adverb suffix: in the manner of)