originally

American  

[uh-rij-uh-nl-ee] / əˈrɪdʒ ə nl i /

adverb

1. with respect to origin; by origin.

   Originally he came from California.

2. at the beginning; at first.

   Originally this was to be in three volumes.

3. in the first place; primarily.

   Originally nomads, they first learned agriculture from the missionaries.

4. in an original, novel, or distinctively individual manner.

   Originally planned houses are much in demand.

5. Archaic. from the beginning; from the first; inherently.

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originally British  

/ əˈrɪdʒɪnəlɪ /

adverb

1. in the first place

2. in an original way

3. with reference to the origin or beginning

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Etymology

Origin of originally

First recorded in 1480–90; original + -ly

Example Sentences

It was originally built in the early 1900s before it was transformed into the Magic Castle, according to its website.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

The latest downgrade in fourth-quarter GDP, meanwhile, stemmed from a bigger slowdown in the production of inventories — unsold goods — than originally reported.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026

Bronner inherited his verbosity and gumption from his grandfather, Emanuel Bronner, who originally crammed all-caps, feel-good credos onto the labels of his soap bottles in the 1940s.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

The Armed Man was originally commissioned in 1998 by various bodies as a mass to mark the millennium, said Sir Karl, adding that it had been performed "globally" 4,000 times since 2000.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

As originally conceived, in 2003, the subprime mortgage credit default swap was a one-off, nonstandard insurance contract, struck between Morgan Stanley and some other bank or insurance company, outside the gaze of the wider market.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• basically
• formerly