au fondadv.
/əʊ ˈfɒ̃/ At bottom, basically, essentially.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > basis or foundation > [adverb]
radically?a1425
fundamentallyc1449
primordially1604
primitively1610
cardinally1631
at (the) root1638
centrally1646
ultimately1660
au fond1782
basally1882
basically1903
1782 Lady Derby Let. 1 Jan. in Duke of Argyll Intimate Society Lett. 18th Cent. (1910) I. 280 Prince Hen: says he [sc. Prince Ernest of Prussia] is charming, but au fond he is french.
1847 ‘G. Eliot’ Let. 10 May (1954) I. 235 But au fond, dear Mary, I have no impiety in my mind at this moment.
1890 G. B. Shaw in World 19 Nov. 23/2 If you know your Don Giovanni au fond.
1933 M. Lutyens Forthcoming Marriages 182 Au fond every man is a hunter, a cave-man.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online September 2019).
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adv.1782- individuous
- individuum
- individuum vagum
- individuums
- indivinable
- indivine
- indivinity
- indivise
- indivisibilities
- indivisibility
- indivisible
- indivisibleness
- indivisiblenesses
- indivisibles
- indivisibly
- indivision
- indivisive
- indivulsion
- indivulsive
- indivulsively
- indling
- indo
- indo-
- indo-abyssinian
- indo-african