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repetitively

UK[rɪˈpetətɪvli]US[rɪˈpetətɪvli]
adv

in a way that involves doing or saying the same thing many times

Morpheme Breakdown

re
pet
itively
re

again

pet

seek

itively

adverb-forming suffix

Etymology

the word 'repetitively' is built upon the latin verb 'petere', meaning to seek, aim for, or attack. the prefix 're-', meaning 'again', was added to this root to form 'repetere', literally 'to seek again' or 'to attack again', which evolved into the concept of doing something once more. this core idea of doing again was carried into english via old french, forming the adjective 'repetitive'. the modern adverb 'repetitively' was then created by appending the standard english adverbial suffix '-ly' to this adjective, finalizing its grammatical function. thus, the word's journey encapsulates the logical progression from the literal act of seeking something again to the abstract concept of a recurring action.

Analysis

Structure: re (again) + pet (seek) + itively (adverb-forming suffix) re- (latin prefix, meaning 'again' or 'back'), pet (latin root from 'petere', meaning 'to seek', 'to aim at', or 'to attack'), -itively (a complex english adverbial suffix combining '-itive', an adjective-forming suffix indicating a tendency, and '-ly', which forms adverbs)

Examples

the alarm beeped repetitively until someone turned it off.

he checked his phone repetitively throughout the meeting.

the machine stamps the metal sheet repetitively with perfect precision.

repetitively – Meaning, Etymology & Word Origin | OpenEtymology