Auspiciously

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a way that implies good fortune is likely to follow
2. By taking actions that bode well for success in the future
3. With behavior or signs that suggest something positive is likely to happen

Etymology: "Auspiciously" is a straightforward formation: the adjective "auspicious" with the suffix "-ly" added. The adjective comes from Latin "auspicium," a word for the practice of augury, the reading of omens, usually from birds. Its root is "auspex," a bird-watcher, from "avis" (bird) combined with a verb for looking at or observing. So an auspicious sign was originally one a Roman official read from the flight of birds, and anything done auspiciously was done under favorable omens. The adverb's ending has a long pedigree of its own. The "-ly" suffix descends from an Old English "-līce," which in turn traces back to a Proto-Germanic form meaning "body" or "appearance," so that "-ly" once meant something like "in the form of" or "in the manner of." Over centuries it was attached to countless adjectives in English, and "auspiciously" is one of the later products of that process.

Synonyms: favorably, promisingly

Antonyms: unfavorably