Spicily

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. Notable for imparting a strong and hot flavor that invigorates the taste buds
2. In a way that has a sharp, pungent taste that adds heat to food
3. With a flavor that strongly stimulates the senses due to spices

Etymology: "Spicily" is a plain formation: the adjective "spicy" with the adverbial suffix "-ly" attached. The adjective "spicy" comes from "spice," which reached English through Old French "espice" from Latin "species," a word meaning "kind" or "sort" that came to denote goods of a particular kind, and especially costly imported aromatics. So the root idea is less about flavor than about merchandise: a "species" was a commodity, and the spices were the goods that mattered most in medieval trade. The suffix has its own older path. "-ly" descends from Old English "-līċe," itself built from the noun "līc," meaning "body" or "form," so the original sense of "-ly" was something like "in the manner of" or "in the form of." Attaching it to "spicy" yields the sense "in a spicy manner," which is exactly what the word describes: something done or presented with a pronounced spiced character.

Synonyms: zestfully, tangily, seasonedly, piquantly, flavorfully

Antonyms: blandly, dully, tastelessly, insipidly, flatly