different between regretfully vs taxonomy

English

Etymology

regretful +? -ly

Pronunciation

Adverb

regretfully (comparative more regretfully, superlative most regretfully)

1. In a regretful manner, with regret.
2. (proscribed) Unfortunately, in a manner inspiring or deserving regret; used only as a sentence adverb (to introduce and modify an entire sentence).

Usage notes

In careful usage, regretfully means with regret (in a manner expressed with regret, expressing remorse), while regrettably means deserving regret (sadly, unfortunately), and in the body of sentences this distinction is observed: John regretfully asked for forgiveness, not *John regrettably asked for forgiveness, and The weather was regrettably terrible, not *The weather was regretfully terrible. These terms are occasionally conflated, a practice noted and decried since Fowler 1926 (in the forms regretful and regrettable).

However, in use as a sentence adverb, these are sometimes used interchangeably to mean “unfortunately”, a practice noted since the 1960s in the United States, as in: Regrettably, it is raining or Regretfully, it is raining, the latter being proscribed by some. This is similar to and possibly influenced by the use of hopefully, which predates this usage of regretfully, and is both far more popular than regretfully and has no precise equivalent, *hopeably not existing.

Synonyms

• (in a regretful manner): sorrowfully, ruefully
• (unfortunately): sadly, unfortunately, sad to say, regrettably, alas

Related terms

• Category:English words containing but not directly derived from: regret
• Category:English words derived from: regret

Translations

References

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French taxonomie. Surface analysis taxo- +? -nomy.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tæk?s?n?mi/
• (US) IPA^(key): /tæk?s??n?mi/
• Rhymes: -?n?mi

Noun

taxonomy (countable and uncountable, plural taxonomies)

1. The science or the technique used to make a classification.
2. A classification; especially, a classification in a hierarchical system.
3. (taxonomy, uncountable) The science of finding, describing, classifying and naming organisms.

Synonyms

• taxonomics
• (science of finding, describing, classifying and naming organisms): alpha taxonomy

Coordinate terms

• nomenclature
• ontology

Derived terms

Translations