Verbally

How to spell verbally

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce verbally

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does verbally mean?

1. adverbBy means of spoken words rather than in writing, or in terms of language.

Verbally in a sentence

• The manager confirmed the offer verbally before sending the contract.

• The agreement was made verbally and never written down.

Where does verbally come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verbum, which literally meant 'word'. From verbum the Latins formed the adjective verbalis, meaning 'relating to words', and English took this up through Old French and Latin scholarly use in the 1400s and 1500s, first as the adjective 'verbal'. Adding the native English adverb suffix -ly produced 'verbally', describing something done in or by means of words. Over time the sense narrowed in everyday use to mean specifically 'in spoken rather than written form', which is how most adults use it today. The same verbum root sits inside the grammatical term 'verb' and the legal phrase 'verbatim' (meaning word for word), so the family connection is all about words themselves. The spelling trap lives in the unstressed ending, where the -al and -ly stack up into the easily slipped sequence -ally.

How the word is built

• verb- (from Latin verbum: word)
• -al (adjective suffix: relating to)
• -ly (adverb suffix)