mutually
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mutually
Explanation
When you do something in cooperation with another person, the two of you do it mutually. You and your sister might, for example, mutually decide to skip the family reunion. You can use the adverb mutually to describe an action or a connection that you share with someone. If you have a mutually competitive relationship with your best friend, it means that both of you feel a sense of rivalry. And when a decision is mutually beneficial to everyone in town, it helps every single person equally. The root word is the Latin mutuus, which means "reciprocal, or done in exchange."
Vocabulary lists containing mutually
The Mayflower Compact (1620)
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Dear Martin
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The Treaty of Paris (1783)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mutually agreed-upon extensions were possible; there was just such an extension during the pandemic.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025
Mutually assured destruction — MAD — kept the stopper in the nuclear bottle.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 7, 2022
The old Cold War maxim of "MAD" - Mutually Assured Destruction - still applies.
From BBC • Feb. 23, 2022
Mutually beneficial commerce — and the need to abide by the international rules that make it possible — have successfully moderated the behavior of sovereign states.
From New York Times • Sep. 21, 2018
Mutually supporting and interlocking, these diverse elements made possible the Scientific Revolution.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
