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Synonyms

reciprocally

American  
[ri-sip-ruh-klee] / rɪˈsɪp rə kli /

adverb

  1. by or from one to the other; in a way that involves equal exchange between two people or groups; mutually.

    A “Service Engagement” is any endeavor that brings the community into the campus and the campus into the community, reciprocally, often to address a social concern.

  2. in return.

    As valuable information about you is gathered, you will be able to see who is doing the gathering, and can reciprocally gather your own information about the gatherers.

  3. Grammar. so as to express mutual action or relationship.

    In Spanish, some reflexive verbs can be used reciprocally, so “Nosotras nos vemos,” “we see ourselves,” can also mean “we see each other.”

  4. in an opposite or inverse relation or proportion.

    In motion, space and time are reciprocally related, as expressed in the equation of motion, v = s/t.


Other Word Forms

  • nonreciprocally adverb
  • unreciprocally adverb

Etymology

Origin of reciprocally

First recorded in 1550–60; reciprocal ( def. ) + -ly

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.

The possibility to communicate reciprocally with the physical environment or more-than-human reality may have been an essential reason why these cliffs were visited and painted, and why offerings were left to them.

From Science Daily • Nov. 25, 2024

"Vision is remarkable because it's a process that reciprocally shapes what the world looks like," explains Adriana Briscoe, an evolutionary biology professor at University of California, Irvine who specializes in butterfly vision.

From Salon • Apr. 16, 2023

It is now known that homologous chromosomes regularly exchange segments in meiosis by reciprocally breaking and rejoining their DNA at precise locations.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

They shared blinis layered with caviar in Russia and, reciprocally, the popular variant in China, jianbing.

From New York Times • Feb. 27, 2022

It was highly likely that the serpent of sin that nosed about the chambers of my heart was lashed to hunger by hymns as well as dreams, each reciprocally feeding the other.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright