chiefly

English

Etymology

From Middle English chefly; equivalent to chief +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtʃiːf.li/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːfli

Adverb

chiefly (comparative more chiefly, superlative most chiefly)

1. (focus) Especially or primarily; above all.

   Their relationship is chiefly professional.

   This is a term chiefly used by online gamers.

2. (focus) Mainly or principally; almost entirely.

Synonyms

• (above all): first and foremost, particularly; see also Thesaurus:above all
• (almost entirely): by and large, for the most part, largely; see also Thesaurus:mostly

Translations

especially or primarily; above all

• Finnish: eritoten (fi)
• Hungarian: főleg (hu), főként (hu), főképp (hu), főképpen (hu)
• Polish: przede wszystkim (pl)
• Spanish: principalmente (es), sobre todo, particularmente (es), especialmente (es)

mainly or principally, almost entirely

• Albanian: kryesisht (sq)
• Arabic: غَالِبًا (ḡāliban)
• Armenian: գլխավորապես (hy) (glxavorapes), հատկապես (hy) (hatkapes)
• Bulgarian: главно (bg) (glavno), предимно (bg) (predimno)
• Catalan: principalment (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 主要地 (zh) (zhǔyào de)

• Czech: hlavně (cs)
• Dutch: voornamelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: ĉefe (eo)
• Finnish: pääosin, suurimmaksi osaksi, pääasiassa (fi), etupäässä, pääasiallisesti (fi), pitkälti (fi)
• French: surtout (fr)
• German: hauptsächlich (de)
• Greek: κυρίως (el) (kyríos)

  Ancient: μάλιστα (málista), ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ (hōs epì tò polú)

• Hungarian: nagyrészt (hu), jórészt (hu)
• Italian: principalmente (it)
• Japanese: おもに (ja) (omo ni), 主に (ja) (おもに, omo ni)
• Korean: 주로 (ko) (juro)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hovedsakelig (no), primært, for det meste

• Occitan: principalament
• Plautdietsch: hauptsechlich
• Polish: głównie (pl)
• Portuguese: principalmente (pt), especialmente (pt)
• Romanian: mai ales, mai cu seamă, îndeosebi (ro), în principal
• Russian: гла́вным о́бразом (ru) (glávnym óbrazom) more literary and official, в основно́м (v osnovnóm) (mainly); осо́бенно (ru) (osóbenno) (especially); пе́рвоочерёдно (pérvoočerjodno) rare, literary, в пе́рвую о́чередь (v pérvuju óčeredʹ) (primarily, first and foremost)
• Spanish: principalmente (es)
• Swedish: huvudsakligen (sv), företrädesvis (sv), i synnerhet (sv)
• Ukrainian: в основно́му (uk) (v osnovnómu), головни́м чи́ном (uk) (holovným čýnom), особли́во (osoblývo), в пе́ршу чергу́ (v péršu čerhú)
• Yiddish: דער עיקר (der iker)

Adjective

chiefly (comparative chieflier, superlative chiefliest)

1. of or relating to a chief
   • 1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 261:

     The maintenance of a perpetual fire came to be associated with chiefly or royal dignity.