Meanings
namely1
- 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 - 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
comparative more namely · comparative namelier · superlative most namely · superlative nameliest
- 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
- Middle Englishnamely
- 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.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →namely · adjective
- Middle Englishnamely
- Englishnamely
From Middle English namely, namly, equivalent to name + -ly.
More words from Middle English
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
namely. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/namely
“namely.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/namely. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “namely,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/namely.
Source: namely on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.