Normatively

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a manner connected to the establishment of guidelines or standards
2. In a manner that concerns the rules or principles that guide behavior or judgments
3. Expressing something in connection with accepted criteria or societal expectations

Etymology: "Normatively" is an adverb built from "normative" plus the suffix "-ly," and the word it rests on traces back to a Latin word for a carpenter's square. "Norma" in Latin meant a T-square or carpenter's rule used to draw right angles, and from that physical sense came the figurative idea of a standard or pattern to measure things against. English "normative" carries that sense of setting a standard, describing what things ought to be rather than what they are. Its chain of suffixes passed through Latin "-ativus" and Old French "-if" before reaching English "-ative," a route that shows how a plain measuring tool became a word about judgment. The adverbial ending comes from Old English "-līce," which is tied to the same Germanic root as "like" and meant roughly "in the manner of." Over centuries "-līce" wore down to "-ly," so "normatively" is literally "in a normative manner," or in a way that follows an accepted standard.