Patently

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William Hupy
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Patently

Postby William Hupy » Fri Oct 25, 2019 9:52 am

The adverb IS related to patent. From Latin, meaning open. Combined with letter, it means open letter or document from some authority. Thus a patent is a letter issued by an authority giving certain rights to a product. The adverb means openly, as in patently false.
William A. Hupy

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Slava
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Re: Patently

Postby Slava » Sat Oct 14, 2023 4:33 pm

Taking this one without -ly could give us a different kind of twofer than what we sometimes see here. Just toss in its opposite, latent. It does exist, but I don't recall having met the adverb.

Latescent made it to English, but patescent doesn't seem to have.
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