mysteriously
/ˌmɪˈstɪɹiəsli/mih-STIH-ree-uh-slee
/ˌmɪˈstɪɹiəsli/mih-STIH-ree-uh-slee
Meaningin a mysterious way
Common meaning: in a way that is hard to explain
- mystone admitted to secret ritesLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 523 · scan
- erinoun ending: state or practice
- ousadjective ending: full of, having
- lyadverb ending: in a way
Journey through time
- Proto-Indo-European*mu-‘bind, close, shut up, enclose’source
- Greekμύστης‘one admitted to secret rites’
- Middle Englishmysteriesource
- Englishmystery‘something unexplained’
- Englishformed in English from mysterymysterious‘hard to explain or understand’
- Englishformed in English from mysteriousmysteriously‘in a way that is hard to explain’ · 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 mysterious + -ly.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), MYSTERY, p.386 · scan
Roots
- μύστης Greek “one admitted to secret rites”
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