Vitally

Part of speech: adverb

Pronunciation: /ˈvaɪ.tə.li/

Definitions

1. In a manner that is pivotal and necessary for life to be sustained
2. In a manner that is crucial for maintaining life or fundamental importance
3. Expressing an action or condition that is indispensable for existence or achievement

Etymology: "Vitally" is a plain formation: the adjective "vital" with the adverbial suffix "-ly" added to it. "Vital" came into English from Latin "vitalis", meaning "of life", itself built from "vita", "life". The suffix has a longer pedigree than the word it sits on: it descends from a Proto-Germanic element meaning "body" or "form", which became Old English "-līċe" and gradually wore down to the modern "-ly" we attach to adjectives almost without thinking. The sense of "vitally" follows from its base. Something vital was originally simply life-giving or concerned with life, and the adverb carries that into a sense of being essential to continued existence, as in "vitally important." The meaning has shifted little from the root idea: what is vital is what living things cannot do without.

Synonyms: essentially, critically, fundamentally, importantly, significantly

Antonyms: insignificantly, unimportantly, irrelevantly, trivially