Dictionary

virtually en · ADV

Pronunciation

• /ˈvɵːt͡ʃʉəli/ (New-Zealand)
• /ˈvɝt͡ʃuəli/ (General-American)
• /ˈvɜːt͡ʃəli/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈvɚ.t͡ʃə.wə.li/ (General-American)
• /ˈvɵːt͡ʃəli/ (New-Zealand)
• (US) audio
• /ˈvɜːt͡ʃʉəli/ (Australia)
• /ˈvɜːt͡ʃʊəli/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈvɝt͡ʃuəli/ (Canada)

Etymology

From Middle English vertually; equivalent to virtual + -ly.

Meanings

1. Almost but not quite.
   • Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return. 2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, archived from the original on 01 Apr 2019, page 68:
   • By surviving the first six minutes Hargreaves matched the total amount of playing time he had managed previously in virtually three years - and by scoring his first goal since April 2008 he set the hosts on their way to a fifth win of the season in all competitions. 2011 September 21, Sam Lyon, “Man City 2-0 Birmingham”, in BBC Sport:
   • With our Medicare supplemental insurance plan, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. (Advertisement)
2. In essence or functionally, but not in fact, formally, or technically.
   • virtually a member of the family
3. Of a subgroup of finite index.
   • In this paper, we are mainly concerned with homogeneity in the class of finitely generated virtually free groups, i.e. finitely generated groups with a free subgroup of finite index. 2018, Simon André, “Virtually free groups are almost homogeneous”, in arXiv, section 1:
   • In this case W has a diagram with 2 vertices and one edge labelled ∞, and is therefore the infinite dihedral group. Thus W is virtually ℤ. 1998, Daryl Cooper, D. D. Long, A. W. Reid, “Infinite Coxeter Groups are Virtually Indicable”, in Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society, volume 41, page 309:
4. Of a covering space of finite degree.
   • Another class of small manifolds consists of those that are not virtually Haken (a manifold is virtually Haken if it is finitely covered by a Haken manifold). 2002, Steven Boyer, “Dehn surgery on knots” (chapter 4), in R.J. Daverman, R.B. Sher, editors, Handbook of Geometric Topology, page 206:
   • We call a hyperplane Y in a VH-complex X virtually clean if there exists a finite-sheeted covering map p : X̂ → X and a connected component Y ⊆ p⁻¹Y such that the hyperplane Ŷ of X̂ is clean. 2017, Martin R. Bridson, Henry Wilton, “Hyperbolic Geometry and Geometric Group Theory”, in Advanced Studies in Pure Mathematics, volume 73, page 40:
5. By computer or in cyberspace.

Forms

Antonyms

actually

Synonyms

digitally · practically · practically · more or less · nearly · effectively · cyberly · as good as

Translations (58)

da praktisk talt (almost) · gl practicamente (literally — see also literally) · de praktisch (almost) · nl nagenoeg (almost) · gl na práctica (in essence, but not in fact) · vi hầu như (almost) · hu majdnem (almost) · fi melkein (almost) · hu úgyszólván (almost) · de nahezu (almost) · hu majdhogynem (almost) · nb praktisk talt (almost) · vi gần như (almost) · it praticamente (almost) · hu gyakorlatilag (almost) · hu jóformán (almost) · bg почти (almost) · fr quasiment (almost) · uk факти́чно (almost) · sv i princip (almost) · gl practicamente (almost) · fr pour ainsi dire (almost) · bg виртуално (in essence, but not in fact) · vi thực ra (literally — see also literally) · vi đại khái (in essence, but not in fact) · pl praktycznie (almost) · fr pratiquement (almost) · fi lähes (almost) · hu szinte (almost) · ro practic (almost) · io virtuale (almost) · fi käytännössä (almost) · ka ფაქტობრივად (almost) · fr virtuellement (in essence, but not in fact) · vi thực sự (literally — see also literally) · fi käytännössä (in essence, but not in fact) · nn praktisk talt (almost) · nl praktisch (almost) · uk практи́чно (almost) · fi likimainkaan (almost) · pt praticamente (almost) · es prácticamente (almost) · ka ნამდვილად (almost) · io virtuale (in essence, but not in fact) · hu virtuálisan (in essence, but not in fact) · hu ténylegesen (literally — see also literally) · cs v podstatě (in essence, but not in fact) · pt virtualmente (in essence, but not in fact) · gl na práctica (literally — see also literally) · sv så gott som (almost) · fi käytännöllisesti katsoen (almost) · fi käytännöllisesti katsoen (in essence, but not in fact) · gl practicamente (in essence, but not in fact) · ro în mod virtual (in essence, but not in fact) · hu valósággal (literally — see also literally) · nl quasi (almost) · ca virtualment (in essence, but not in fact) · ru практически (almost)