profusely

the adverb "profusely" is built upon the adjective "profuse", which entered english in the late middle period from latin "profusus", the past participle of "profundere". this latin verb is a compound of "pro-" (meaning "forth") and "fundere" (meaning "to pour"). the literal sense is "poured forth" or "poured out". this concrete image of a liquid flowing freely and copiously evolved into the modern abstract meaning of something given or occurring in great abundance or excess. the adverbial suffix "-ly", of germanic origin, was then added to form the word describing the manner of such abundant action.

Structure: pro (forward) + fus (pour) + ely (adverb suffix) - pro: latin origin, meaning "forward, forth". - fus: latin origin, from the root of the verb "fundere", meaning "to pour". - ely: english suffix, from old english "-lice", used to form adverbs from adjectives.