Dictionary

indifferently en · ADV

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in- Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ▲ Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti Proto-Italic *ferō Latin ferō Latin differō Latin differēns Latin indifferēns Old French indifferent English indifferent Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der. Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-Germanic *-ê Proto-Germanic *-līkê Proto-West Germanic *-līkē Old English -līċe Middle English -ly English -ly English indifferently From indifferent + -ly.

Meanings

1. In an indifferent manner. ▸ Tolerably; passably.
2. In an indifferent manner. ▸ Without distinction; impartially, objectively.
   • And make diuiſion equally, Of each mans goods indifferently, […] 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act I:
   • Uiew wel my Camp, and ſpeake indifferently, Doo not my captaines and my ſouldiers looke As if they meant to conquer Affrica? c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:
3. In an indifferent manner. ▸ Without great care; without sufficient attention or thought.
   • For the first ten years of nationalisation a further note of overall gloom was added by the depressing policy of unimaginative Regional colour schemes, indifferently applied. 1962 October, Brian Haresnape, “Focus on B.R. passenger stations”, in Modern Railways, page 251:
   • They might have been lifted bodily out of an indifferently written American crime novel. 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 3, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 222:

Forms

Translations (9)

fi mitäänsanomattomasti (in an indifferent manner) · ka გულგრილად (in an indifferent manner) · ca indiferentment (in an indifferent manner) · ka ინდიფერენტულად (in an indifferent manner) · ga ar nós cuma liom (in an indifferent manner) · fi välinpitämättömästi (in an indifferent manner) · eo indiferente (in an indifferent manner) · es indiferentemente (in an indifferent manner) · cs lhostejně (in an indifferent manner)