greatly

English

Etymology

From Middle English gretly, gretely, gretliche, greteliche, equivalent to great +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹeɪtli/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪtli

Adverb

greatly (comparative greatlier or greater or more greatly, superlative greatliest or greatest or most greatly)

1. To a great extent or degree.

   Synonyms: very, drastically

   Expenses greatly exceeded revenues this year.

   He was more greatly beloved than anyone in living memory.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.

   • 2011 October 29, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal”, in BBC Sport:

     Terry's goal looked to have put Chelsea in control on the stroke of half-time but Arsenal's response presented a compelling case for Wenger's insistence that reports of his side's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

   • 2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 56:

     Instead of retracing my route, I have elected to walk across Blackpool to the town's remaining large station, although even this has been greatly reduced in size.

2. (archaic) Nobly; magnanimously.
   • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 2:

     His Suff’rings ſhine, and ſpread a Glory round him;
     Greatly unfortunate, he fights the Cauſe
     Of Honour, Virtue, Liberty, and Rome.

   • 1823, Catherine George Ward, The Cottage on the Cliff: A Sea-side Story, page 251:

     But all this our fisher, who was neither a poet, nor a dependent, did not know, so he concluded, that all who were truly great, were truly greatly minded, and noble in soul, as they were exalted by birth, and rich in splendour.

Synonyms

• (to a great extent): above a bit (Chester)

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “to a great extent”): slightly

Translations

to a great extent

• Arabic: بشكل كبير
• Armenian: սաստիկ (hy) (sastik)
• Bulgarian: много (bg) (mnogo), значително (bg) (značitelno)
• Catalan: granment (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大大 (zh) (dàdà)

• Esperanto: ege
• Finnish: kovin (fi), see also Thesaurus:kovin
• French: grandement (fr)
• Galician: grandemente
• Georgian: მაგრად (magrad)
• Gothic: 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌱𐌰 (mikilaba)
• Greek:

  Ancient: μεγάλως (megálōs)

• Italian: molto (it), grandemente (it), assai (it), oltremodo (it), parecchio (it), tanto (it), massimamente (it) (archaic)
• Japanese: 大いに (ja) (おおいに, ōini)
• Latin: magnopere (la)
• Norman: grandement
• Russian: си́льно (ru) (sílʹno), суще́ственно (ru) (suščéstvenno), значи́тельно (ru) (značítelʹno), весьма́ (ru) (vesʹmá)
• Sanskrit: बहु (sa) (bahu)
• Spanish: grandemente (es), enormemente (es), sobremanera (es)

Anagrams

• lytarge, graylet

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English gretly, equivalent to graat +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɾiːˈtliː/

Adverb

greatly

1. greatly
   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:

     Ich as (or 'chas) greatly blin.

     I was greatly mistaken.

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 26