originally
adverb
orig·i·nal·ly
ə-ˈri-jə-nᵊl-ē 
-ˈrij-nə-lē,
-ˈri-jən-
1
archaic
: by origin or derivation : inherently
2
: in the beginning : in the first place : initially
3
: in a fresh or original manner
Examples of originally in a Sentence
That van originally belonged to us.
The building was originally a school.
They originally planned to fix their old car, but they decided to buy a new one instead.
Originally, the word had a very different meaning from its current meaning.
a New Yorker who is originally from Mexico
She has shown an ability to think originally about ways to improve the company.
Recent Examples on the Web
Congress originally passed a law during the Biden administration in 2024 that required TikTok to divest from ByteDance, a Chinese tech company headquartered in Beijing.
—
Washington Examiner Staff, The Washington Examiner, 19 Sep. 2025
The arrival was accompanied by a performance from the Household Cavalry band, whose musicians wore ornate state dress uniforms originally designed in the 1600s and woven with pure gold thread.
—Amanda Castro
hannah Parry
shane Croucher
jack Royston, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Sep. 2025
This summer was all about the plush monsters with the toothy grins who hail from China (originally storybook characters created by the artist Kasing Lung).
—Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Parents, 18 Sep. 2025
Unique mission challenge Hayabusa2 originally visited the much larger asteroid Ryugu, 900 meters wide, returning samples to Earth in 2020.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for originally
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show current usage.
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Washington Examiner Staff, The Washington Examiner, 19 Sep. 2025
The arrival was accompanied by a performance from the Household Cavalry band, whose musicians wore ornate state dress uniforms originally designed in the 1600s and woven with pure gold thread.
—Amanda Castro
hannah Parry
shane Croucher
jack Royston, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Sep. 2025
This summer was all about the plush monsters with the toothy grins who hail from China (originally storybook characters created by the artist Kasing Lung).
—Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Parents, 18 Sep. 2025
Unique mission challenge Hayabusa2 originally visited the much larger asteroid Ryugu, 900 meters wide, returning samples to Earth in 2020.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for originally
Cite this Entry
“Originally.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/originally. Accessed 23 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
originally
adverb
orig·i·nal·ly
ə-ˈrij-ən-ᵊl-ē
-nəl-ē
1
: in the beginning : in the first place
2
: in an original manner
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