Dorsally

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a manner that refers to the upper side or back of a living being
2. Describes an orientation towards or situated on the upper or back surface of an animal or plant
3. Referring to a position located along the back or upper side in living creatures

Etymology: "Dorsally" is a plain formation: the adjective "dorsal," meaning relating to the back, with the adverbial suffix "-ly" added. "Dorsal" comes from Latin "dorsalis," itself built on "dorsum," the back, and that Latin stem descends from an ancient root that also gave English words for the back of the body and things that lie along it. The suffix is the more ancient piece. "-ly" traces back through Middle English "-ly" and Old English "-līċe," to Proto-Germanic "*-līkô," a form built on an older element meaning "body" or "form." That is why "-ly" once carried the sense of "in the manner of" or "in the form of," so that "dorsally" literally means "in a back-like manner" or "with respect to the back." The English suffix attached itself to Latin-derived adjectives freely, which is how a Latin anatomical term came to take a Germanic ending.