Similarly

How to spell similarly

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce similarly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does similarly mean?

1. adverbIn a comparable way; likewise, indicating that something resembles or follows the pattern of what was just stated.

Similarly in a sentence

• The morning train was delayed, and the evening service was similarly late.

• Both candidates answered the budget question similarly, stressing the need for cuts.

Where does similarly come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin similis, meaning 'like' or 'resembling', which itself springs from an older root meaning 'one and the same' that also gave us 'same' and the Greek 'homos'. From similis Latin built similaris, and the adjective passed into English through French as 'similar' in the seventeenth century, describing things that share qualities without being identical. The adverb 'similarly' was then formed inside English by adding the native '-ly' ending to mark manner, so it means 'in a like manner'. The same similis root is hidden in a surprising family of English words, including 'assemble', 'resemble', 'simultaneous' and even 'simile'. The spelling trap sits in the middle: the unstressed vowels make it easy to lose the second 'i' or to misjudge the '-ar-' before the familiar '-ly'.

How the word is built

• simil- (from Latin similis: like, resembling)
• -ar (adjective suffix)
• -ly (adverb suffix)