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

Synonyms of originally

• initially
• primarily

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

The merch was originally made for OpenAI employees to purchase on an internal site, but the team decided to make a small capsule collection available to the public. — T.m. Brown, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026

Wynn One example is the UAE's first casino resort, the Wynn Al Marjan Island, was originally due to open in the first quarter of 2027 but was recently delayed to September. — Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2026

One of the biggest changes was to replace the long, rock groins originally proposed with short, landscaped headlands. — Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Aug. 2026

The work originally had six panels, but one was destroyed along with the monastery that housed it in the 1908 Messina earthquake. — Willem Marx, NPR, 16 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids 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