insignificantly
Meaning
in a manner that is too small or unimportant to be worth consideration
Structure
Usage
The error affected the final result only insignificantly.
His contribution to the project was insignificantly small.
The cost of the extra materials increased the budget insignificantly.
Etymology
The word "insignificantly" is built upon the core adjective "significant," which derives from the Latin verb significare, meaning "to show, to mean," itself from signum (a sign, mark) and facere (to make). The Latin prefix in- (meaning "not") was attached to negate the meaning, forming "insignificant," which describes something that does not make a meaningful sign or mark. The adverbial suffix "-ly," of Germanic origin, was then appended to describe the manner of an action. Thus, the word's literal journey is from the concept of "not making a sign" to the modern abstract sense of being too trivial to be noticed or to have any effect.
Analysis
- in: Latin origin, a prefix meaning "not". - significant: From Latin significans, meaning "indicating, meaningful". It is a direct substring of the modern spelling. - ly: Old English origin, a suffix used to form adverbs from adjectives.