Ordinarily

ɔːˈdɪnərɪli

adverbmedium📊CommonDescriptive
1 meaning3 questions

Definitions

1

In the usual or normal manner; commonly.

ɔːˈdɪnərɪli

adverbneutralmedium
Descriptive

In a usual or normal way.

Ordinarily, the train arrives on time.

💡 Simply: It's like saying 'usually' or 'normally.' For example, ordinarily, you eat dinner around 6 pm. But today, maybe you're eating earlier or later. So, when you say ordinarily, you're talking about what's most common for you.

👶 For kids: It means doing something in the way you usually do, like ordinarily you brush your teeth after you wake up.

More Examples

2

We ordinarily go to the beach in the summer.

3

The store ordinarily closes at 9 PM.

How It's Used

General Usage

"Ordinarily, I would go to the gym, but I'm feeling under the weather today."

Formal Writing

"The contract stipulates that payment will ordinarily be made within thirty days."

From "ordinary" + "-ily". "Ordinary" comes from the Latin "ordinarius," meaning "in order, regular." The suffix "-ily" forms adverbs.

Historically, the word 'ordinarily' has been used in legal and formal documents to indicate established procedures or common practices.

Memory tip

Think of something being 'in order' - as it usually is.

Word Origin

LanguageLatin
Original meaning

"in order, regular"

ordinarily happensordinarily requiresordinarily does

Common misspellings

ordinarillyordinarly

Usage

40%Spoken
60%Written