reliably

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /rɪˈlaɪəbli/ UK /rɪˈlaɪəbli/ See IPA manual

adv

Meanings

1

adv
in a dependable, consistently good manner

The old car still starts reliably every morning.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · in a dependable,... dependablyconsistently steadilytrustworthilypredictably

Opposites

unreliably inconsistently erratically

Word family

Related forms reliable rely reliance reliability

Etymology

From reliable + -ly. Reliable is from rely + -able. Rely is from Old French relier ('to bind together'), from Latin religare ('to bind fast'), from re- (intensive) + ligare ('to bind, tie').

religare Latin ligare Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# reliably

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adv
**IPA (US):** rɪˈlaɪəbli
**IPA (UK):** rɪˈlaɪəbli

## Meanings
1. in a dependable, consistently good manner

## Examples
- The old car still starts reliably every morning.

## Synonyms
- dependably
- consistently
- steadily
- trustworthily
- predictably

## Antonyms
- unreliably
- inconsistently
- erratically

## Related Forms
- reliable
- rely
- reliance
- reliability

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: religare
- Root: ligare

## Etymology
From reliable + -ly. Reliable is from rely + -able. Rely is from Old French relier ('to bind together'), from Latin religare ('to bind fast'), from re- (intensive) + ligare ('to bind, tie').

## AI Etymology
Reliably comes from reliable + -ly. Reliable is from rely + -able. Rely is from Old French relier ('to bind together'), from Latin religare ('to bind fast'), from re- (intensive) + ligare ('to bind, tie'). The historical chain includes Latin religare and Latin ligare. The quoted older senses, "to bind together", "to bind fast", and "to bind, tie", supply the semantic anchors for reliably. The formation is best read as suffixal, compound, and borrowed: the word reliably carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adv, "in a dependable, consistently good manner". Related English forms include reliable, rely, reliance, and reliability. The result is a adv whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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