What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Mostly vs Namely - What's the difference?

mostly | namely |

As adverbs the difference between mostly and namely

is that mostly is mainly or chiefly; for the most part; usually, generally, on the whole while namely is especially, above all.

mostly

English

Alternative forms

* mostlie (obsolete) * moastly (obsolete)

Adverb

(-)
  • Mainly or chiefly; for the most part; usually, generally, on the whole.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= A punch in the gut , passage=Mostly , the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}
  • (obsolete) To the greatest extent; most.
  • * 1817 , , Northanger Abbey , [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mDUbXHRIbRIC&dq=northanger+abbey+search+austen&pg=PP1&ots=EDH1Xu36el&sig=J7fVUwXmydAD36S8oLTWv2-ICNk&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA163,M1]:
    • She was to be their chosen visitor, she was to be for weeks under the same roof with the person whose society she mostly prized [...]!

    Synonyms

    * (mainly or chiefly) by and large, in the main, more often than not

    namely

    English

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Especially, 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
  • Specifically; that is to say.
  • :
  • :
  • *{{quote-book, year=1905, author=
    • , title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“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.

    Usage notes

    A synonymous expression is the use of colon—":", as in "There are three ways to do it: the right way, the wrong way." Considered a dependent clause, a comma' should follow the expression and either a '''semicolon''' or ' comma should precede it, depending on the strength of the break in continuity. "Namely" can thus almost be considered a conjunction.

    Anagrams

    * *