Gigantically

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a fashion that denotes immense size or scale
2. In a way that clearly shows enormous size or vast proportions
3. Characterized by an appearance or quality of great magnitude or immensity

Etymology: "Gigantically" is simply "gigantic" with the adverb ending "-ally" attached, and the path to that ending is the most interesting part. The "-al" in "gigantic" (from Latin "-ālis") and the "-ly" that became "-ally" each passed through Old French and Middle English, and the final "-ly" traces back to an Old English suffix meaning "having the form or appearance of," which shares a Proto-Germanic root with the word "like." So the adverb is built from two layers of suffixes, each with its own long journey. The base word "gigantic" carries the older story. It descends from Latin "gigas," borrowed from Greek "gigas," the name for the giants of myth, and it entered English with a sense of being of giant size. Because the adverb is formed directly from that adjective, "gigantically" inherits the same sense of enormous scale, describing how something is done or appears rather than the size of a thing itself.

Synonyms: enormously, immensely, colossally, vastly, tremendously

Antonyms: minimally, slightly, trivially, insignificantly, petitely