Readably

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a way that can be easily read and comprehended by someone
2. So clearly expressed or shown that it is simple to understand the content
3. Presented with clarity and legibility, allowing the reader to grasp the meaning without difficulty

Etymology: Readably is one of those words where the history is plain: it is simply "readable" with the adverbial ending "-ly" added, so it means "in a readable way." The adjective "readable" came into Middle English as "redable," built from "read" and the suffix "-able," which marks something that can be done. The suffix traces back through Latin and Old French, while "read" descends from an ancient root meaning "to gather" or "to pick up," the same sense found in its distant relative "lection" (a reading). The "-ly" ending has a longer ancestry. It began as the Proto-Germanic *-līkaz, meaning "having the body or form of," and the same element gave English "like" and "lich" (as in "lichgate"). Over time it became a regular way of turning adjectives into adverbs, and it reached Old English as "-līċe." By the Middle English period it had shortened to "-ly," so that "readably" joins countless others formed the same way, such as "clearly" and "simply."

Synonyms: clearly, legibly

Antonyms: illegibly