Tentatively

How to spell tentatively

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce tentatively

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does tentatively mean?

1. adverbIn a hesitant or provisional way, without firm commitment or final certainty.

Tentatively in a sentence

• The meeting was tentatively scheduled for the first week of March.

• She tentatively agreed to the new terms, pending a closer look at the figures.

Where does tentatively come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin verb tentare (also spelled temptare), which meant 'to feel out, to try, or to test'; this is the same root that gives English 'attempt' and 'tempt'. From it Latin built the adjective tentativus, describing something done as a trial or experiment. The adjective 'tentative' entered English in the late 1500s with the sense 'of the nature of a trial', and the adverb 'tentatively' followed naturally by adding the familiar -ly ending. The spelling trap lives in the unstressed middle: speakers say 'TEN-tuh-tiv-ly' and easily lose the second 't', so the safe memory hook is that you are testing or 'tenting' an idea, keeping both t's of the original tentare in place.

How the word is built

• tent- (from Latin tentare/temptare: to try, test)
• -ative (adjective: inclined to)
• -ly (adverb suffix)