Powerfully

How to spell powerfully

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce powerfully

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does powerfully mean?

1. adverbIn a way that has great strength, force, or effect.

Powerfully in a sentence

• The new engine accelerates powerfully on the motorway.

• She argued powerfully for a change in company policy.

Where does powerfully come from?

Language of origin: French

The word builds on 'power', which came into English in the 1200s from Anglo-Norman 'poer' and Old French 'poeir', meaning 'to be able'. That French verb traced back to Vulgar Latin 'potere', a reshaping of classical Latin 'posse', meaning 'to be able' or 'to have strength', the same root that gives us 'potent' and 'possible'. English added the native Germanic suffix '-ful', meaning 'full of', to form 'powerful', literally 'full of power', and then stacked on the adverb-forming '-ly' to make 'powerfully'. The spelling trap is the seam between the parts: 'powerful' keeps only one 'l', and the adverb simply adds '-ly', producing the double 'l' in 'fully', not a tripled or dropped letter. Because the base ends in '-ful' (one 'l') and '-ly' supplies the second, writers who pause at the join often hesitate over how many 'l' letters belong there.

How the word is built

• power (root: strength, force)
• -ful (adjective suffix: full of)
• -ly (adverb suffix)