Wordwyrt

suddenly

/ˈsʌdənli/SUH-duhn-lee
/ˈsʌdənli/SUH-duhn-lee

Meaningin an unexpected way

Common meaning: quickly and without warning

Journey through time

  1. Old Frenchsodainsource
  2. Middle Englishsodainsource
  3. Englishsudden‘unexpected’
  4. Englishformed in English from suddensuddenly‘quickly and without warning’ · 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 sudden + -ly.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), SUDDEN, p.608 · scan

Source words

  • sodain Old French · source word “unexpected”

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