namely

N1A1M3E1L1Y4
/ˈneɪmli/

adverb

Specifically; that is to say.

“There are three ways to do it, namely the right way, the wrong way and the Army way.”

CommonScrabble 11

Meanings

namely1

adverbnamely (not comparable)
  1. not comparableSpecifically; that is to say.

    There are three ways to do it, namely the right way, the wrong way and the Army way.

    2 more examples

    Some of the students — namely Paul, Alice and Jake — seem to have trouble with geometry.

    “The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved. Mrs. Yule had an only son, namely, William, to whom she was passionately attached ; but, like many a fond mother, she had the desire of mapping out that son's future entirely according to her own ideas.[…].

    1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020
  2. archaicnot comparableEspecially, above all.

    THus was sir Tramtryst longe there wel cherysshed / with the kynge and the quene / and namely with la beale Isoud / So vpon a daye / the quene and la beale Isoud made a bayne for syre Tramtryst / And whan he was in his bayne / the quene and Isoud her doughter romed vp & doune in the chamber

    1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xj”, in Le Morte Darthur, book VIII

namely2

adjectivenamely (comparative more namely or namelier, superlative most namely or nameliest)

comparative more namely · comparative namelier · superlative most namely · superlative nameliest

  1. Notable, distinguished; famous, renowned; well-known.

    […] and certainly there was no namelier king in Scotland for building churches and developing the communities of the land into free towns or burghs.

    1915, Thomas Ratcliffe Barnett, The Makers of the Kirk, page 93

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbas follows

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

namely · adverb

  1. Middle Englishnamely
  2. Englishnamely

From Middle English namely, nameliche, namelike, equivalent to name + -ly. Cognate with Saterland Frisian nämmelk, West Frisian nammentlik, Dutch namelijk, German Low German nämlich, German nämlich, Danish nemlig, Swedish nämligen, Icelandic nefnilega.

Full word history & related roots →

namely · adjective

  1. Middle Englishnamely
  2. Englishnamely

From Middle English namely, namly, equivalent to name + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans naamlik
  • naamlikspecifically
Bulgarian и́менно
  • и́менно (ímenno)specifically
Chinese Mandarin 亦即, 即
  • 亦即 (yìjí)specifically
  • 即 (jí)specifically
Czech totiž, jmenovitě
  • totižspecifically
  • jmenovitěspecifically
  • a tospecifically
Danish nemlig
  • nemligspecifically
Dutch namelijk
  • namelijkspecifically
Esperanto nome
  • nomespecifically
Finnish nimittäin
  • nimittäinspecifically
French nommément, c'est-à-dire
  • nommémentspecifically
  • c'est-à-direspecifically
  • à savoirspecifically
German und zwar, nämlich
  • und zwarspecifically
  • nämlichspecifically
Greek ονομαστικά, ήτοι
  • ονομαστικά (onomastiká)specifically
  • ήτοι (ítoi)specifically
  • δηλαδή (diladí)specifically
Hungarian mégpedig, nevezetesen
  • mégpedigspecifically
  • nevezetesenspecifically
  • konkrétanspecifically
  • jelesülspecifically
  • tudniillikspecifically
Icelandic nefnilega
  • nefnilegaspecifically
Indonesian yaitu
  • yaituspecifically
Irish eadhon
  • eadhonspecifically
Italian cioè, ovvero
  • cioèspecifically
  • ovverospecifically
  • ovverosiaspecifically
  • vale a direspecifically
Japanese 即ち, つまり
  • 即ち (sunawachi)specifically
  • つまり (tsumari)specifically
Latin utpote, vidēlicet
  • utpotespecifically
  • vidēlicetspecifically
  • nominēspecifically
Māori arā
  • arāspecifically
Polish mianowicie, czyli
  • mianowiciespecifically
  • czylispecifically
  • to znaczyspecifically
  • to jestspecifically
Portuguese leia-se, nomeadamente
  • leia-sespecifically
  • nomeadamentespecifically
Romanian adică
  • adicăspecifically
Russian а и́менно, то́ есть
  • а и́менно (a ímenno)specifically
  • то́ есть (tó jestʹ)specifically
Scottish Gaelic eadhon
  • eadhonspecifically
Spanish específicamente, a saber
  • específicamentespecifically
  • a saberspecifically
  • nombradamentespecifically
  • concretamentespecifically
Swedish nämligen
  • nämligenspecifically
Ukrainian а са́ме, тобто
  • а са́ме (a sáme)specifically
  • тобто (tobto)specifically
Welsh sef
  • sefspecifically

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with namely

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

namely. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/namely

MLA

“namely.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/namely. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “namely,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/namely.

Source: namely on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.