Solidly

How to spell solidly

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce solidly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does solidly mean?

1. adverbIn a firm, sturdy, dependable, or thorough way; without interruption.

Solidly in a sentence

• The shelves were solidly built and held the heavy books without sagging.

• She worked solidly for three hours before taking a break.

Where does solidly come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The base word comes from the Latin solidus, meaning 'whole, firm, dense', the same root that gave us 'solid' and even the gold coin called the solidus, ancestor of the modern Italian 'soldo' and the abbreviation for shillings. Latin solidus passed into English through Old French 'solide' during the 1300s, carrying the sense of something firm and three-dimensional rather than empty inside. The adverb 'solidly' was formed much later inside English itself by adding the native suffix -ly to 'solid', a pattern English uses freely to turn adjectives into adverbs. Over time the word broadened from purely physical firmness to figurative senses such as reliability, thoroughness, and unbroken continuity, as in working solidly for hours. The spelling stays simple once you remember it is just 'solid' plus '-ly', with no doubling and no dropped letters.

How the word is built

• solid (firm, dense, from Latin solidus 'whole, firm')
• -ly (adverb suffix)