gratuitously
/ɡɹəˈtuːətəsli/gruh-TOO-uh-tuh-slee
/ɡɹəˈtuətəsli/gruh-TOO-uh-tuh-slee
Meaningin a gratuitous way
Common meaning: without need or reason
- gratuitpleasing; thankfulLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 827 · scan
- ousadjective ending: full of, having
- lyadverb ending: in a way
Journey through time
- Latingratuitus‘freely given’source
- Englishgratuitous‘done without good reason’
- Englishformed in English from gratuitousgratuitously‘without need or reason’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from gratuitous + -ly.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), GRATUITOUS, p.243 · scan
Roots
- grātus, -a, -um Latin “pleasing; thankful”
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