strangely
Meaning
in an unusual or surprising way
used to say that something is surprising
Structure
Usage
he was behaving strangely at the party.
strangely enough, i had been thinking the exact same thing.
the machine made a strangely familiar noise.
Etymology
the adverb "strangely" is built upon the adjective "strange," which entered english via old french from the latin "extraneus," meaning "external" or "foreign." this latin term itself derives from "extra," meaning "outside." the core semantic journey moved from the literal "from outside" to the figurative "unfamiliar," and finally to the modern sense of "odd or surprising." the addition of the old english adverbial suffix "-ly" systematically transforms this quality of being unusual into the manner of its occurrence, completing the word's logical formation.
Analysis
- strange: from old french 'estrange', from latin 'extraneus' meaning "external, foreign". functions as the core adjective. - ly: from old english '-līċe', an adverbial suffix. functions as a derivational suffix converting an adjective to an adverb.