Primally vs Firstly - What's the difference?
primally | firstly |
in a primal manner
* 1931 , , (At the Mountains of Madness)
*:As we stepped out into the awesome half-daylight of this monstrous cylinder-bottom—fifty million years old, and without doubt the most primally ancient structure ever to meet our eyes—we saw that the ramp-traversed sides stretched dizzily up to a height of fully sixty feet.
* 1909 , (Percival Lowell), The Evolution of Worlds
*:The discrepancy is striking and cannot be explained by size, as the smallest are the most massive, and if all were primally of like constitution, should be the least compressed. (formal) In the first place; before anything else; first.
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English sequence adverbs
As adverbs the difference between primally and firstly
is that primally is in a primal manner while firstly is in the first place; before anything else; first.primally
English
Adverb
(en adverb)Chapter 9
firstly
English
Adverb
(-)- Firstly , I continue to base most species treatments on personally collected material, rather than on herbarium plants. Secondly, I continue to base my concepts on intensive study of a limited suite of collections, rather than superficial study of every packet that comes to hand.
Usage notes
* Whether it is proper to use "firstly", rather than "first", has often been disputed. ** Beginning in the early 19th century with de Quincey, who erroneously believed that "firstly" was a neologism, some have argued against the use of "firstly", advocating the sequence: "First", "secondly", "thirdly", .... ** The usage of "firstly" is also deprecated by some modern style guides.International English UsageThe Chicago Manual of Style further recommends that all such -ly forms be avoided, and that list items begin only with "first", "second", and so forth. ** Other authorities disagree. *** The American Heritage Dictionary comments: ***: It is well established that either first'' or ''firstly'' can be used to begin an enumeration: ''Our objectives are, first'' (or ''firstly''), ''to recover from last year's slump. *** The Oxford English Dictionary'' notes the dispute but does not pass judgment: "many writers prefer ''first'', even though closely followed by ''secondly'', ''thirdly'', etc."
"Firstly" in the ''Oxford English Dictionary, online edition (subscription required) ** "Firstly" may appear more formal than "first" and is often recommended for the formal enumeration of arguments.
Writing in a Formal Style for Academic Purposes