Wiktionary

fully

English

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈfʊli/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʊli

Etymology 1

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From Middle English fully, fulliche, volliche, from Old English fullīċe (“fully”), equivalent to full +‎ -ly. Compare German völlig (“fully”), Swedish fullt (“fully”).

Adverb

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fully (comparative more fully, superlative most fully)

  1. In a full manner; without lack or defect; completely, entirely.
    Synonyms: sufficiently, perfectly, completely, entirely
    He is fully capable of meeting his responsibilities.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.
    • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 7:
      The lobule margins, furthermore, are arched away from the lobe, with the consequence that (when fully inflated) the abaxial leaf surface forms the interior lining of the lobule.
    • 2011, William R. Murry, Becoming More Fully Human, →ISBN:
      This work therefore presents Humanism as a foundation for living in a way that is meaningful and fulfilling, and that enables us to become more fully human.
    • 2014, Sondra Higgins Matthaei, Nancy R. Howell, Proleptic Pedagogy: Theological Education Anticipating the Future, →ISBN:
      It is a three-fold cycle by which we are oriented to the learning process: fostering greater awareness that affords greater intentionality to participate more fully, which then fosters greater awareness, and so on in an intensifying cycle of indwelling that which we seek to know so that the union of knower and known is incarnated in and through us.
  2. Used as an intensifier for a quantity.
    it was fully four hours before we arrived home.
    • 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “In Obama’s Second Term, Familiar Challenges”, in The New York Times‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-02-02:
      At this time in 2008, even as the global economy veered toward collapse, optimism about Washington ran surprisingly high. In polling by the Pew Research Center in November 2008, fully half the respondents thought the two parties would cooperate more in the coming year, versus only 36 percent who thought the climate would grow more adversarial.
  3. (Followed by as) Exactly, equally.
    • 2018 December 9, Laura Cumming, “Haroon Mirza: reality is somehow what we expect it to be – review”, in The Observer‎[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-07-05:
      It is fully as shocking as it is meant to be. You step into a pitch black chamber, treading on what feels like a perilous cattle grid, which seems to trigger the crackling circle of white light that starts into life above you.
  4. (rare) So as to be full (not hungry); to satiation.
    to eat fully
  5. (colloquial) Used as a general intensifier; actually, really, literally.
    I fully woke up at like 12 p.m. yesterday.
    • 2015 March 22, Michael Schulman, “Lena Dunham and the ’Man Who Drew Eloise’”, in The New York Times‎[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-26:
      When Ms. Dunham was given a diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder, a therapist asked her to picture a soothing location. "I fully just imagined Eloise's home at the Plaza," she said.
    • 2023 January 30, Mehera Bonner, “A 'Gossip Girl' Editing Error Involving Blake Lively Went Viral on TikTok (Again)”, in Cosmopolitan‎[4], New York, N.Y.: Hearst Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-24:
      We initially see the full look, but when the camera cuts to another angle of Serena checking her phone and holding a bag, it's clear Blake is fully wearing sweatpants under her dress.
    • 2023 November 17, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon‎[5], episode 1878, spoken by Scarlett Johansson:
      That is very strange—that is fully my mom.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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A reference to the phrase "the prisoner was fully committed for trial".

Verb

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fully (third-person singular simple present fullies, present participle fullying, simple past and past participle fullied)

  1. (slang, obsolete, transitive) To commit or send someone to trial.
    • 1879 October, “Autobiography of a Thief in Thieves' Language”, in Macmillan's Magazine, volume 40, number 240, page 506:
      So I got run in, and was tried at Marylebone and remanded for a week, and then fullied (fully committed for trial), and got this stretch and a half.
    • 1896, Arthur Morrison, A Child of the Jago, page 291:
      He made the same reply when he was asked if he had anything to say before being committed; and straightway was "fullied." He lurched serenely out of the dock, waving his cap […]
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Edgar Wallace to this entry?)
    That would have stirred them up a bit — Charles Pearce in court! Instead of which he was John Ward, and if he was fullied he'd probably get seven years at the most five, perhaps — and then he could be ill and be released on ticket.

References

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Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Inherited from Old English fullīċe; equivalent to ful (“full”) +‎ -ly (adverbial suffix).

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈful(l)liː/, /ˈful(l)lit͡ʃ(ə)/

Adverb

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fully

  1. Plentifully, abundantly; without lack.
  2. Fully, completely; without exception.
  3. Actually, truly; in effect.
  4. (rare) Very, extremely.
Descendants
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  • English: fully
  • Scots: fully

Adjective

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fully (rare)

  1. Flawless, immaculate; without defect.
  2. Large, fat; having its full size.

References

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Etymology 2

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Verb

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fully

  1. Alternative form of fullen (“to baptise”)
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