newly

Newly is an English adverb that means recently or not long ago. It is used to indicate that a state, action, or event has started or occurred within a recent period. The word often appears before the adjective or participle it modifies, as in newly built, newly arrived, or newly discovered. It can also appear after an auxiliary verb, as in the house has been newly renovated.

In terms of word formation, newly is created by adding the adverbial suffix -ly to the adjective new. This kind of derivation is common in English and yields a word that signals recency or a recent change of state. The usage of newly is widespread across formal, journalistic, and academic writing, though it can carry a slightly more literary or emphatic tone than the synonym recently.

Placement and usage notes: Newly typically precedes the word it modifies, but it can appear after a form of be or another auxiliary verb when describing a completed recent change (for example, "the area has become newly industrialized"). It is less common in everyday speech than recently, and some style guides recommend recently for straightforward statements, reserving newly for emphasis or a sense of change.

See also: recently, lately, adjacent adverbs of time. In other languages, exact equivalents exist but may carry different connotations regarding immediacy or formality.