potentially

      English

      Etymology

      From potential +‎ -ly.

      Pronunciation

      • (UK) IPA: /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/

      Adverb

      potentially (comparative more potentially, superlative most potentially)

      1. In a manner showing much potential; with the possibility of happening in a given way.
      2. (obsolete) Powerfully, strongly.
        • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick:
          I freely assert, that the cosmopolite philosopher cannot, for his life, point out one single peaceful influence, which within the last sixty years has operated more potentially upon the whole broad world, taken in one aggregate, than the high and mighty business of whaling.

      Translations

      Last modified on 18 June 2013, at 13:11