Eventually means in the end, after a wait, after delays. The bus eventually came; he eventually admitted he was lost; the paint eventually dried.
It carries the sense of patience worn thin — the thing took longer than it should have, and then it happened. It sits comfortably at the front of a sentence, after the subject, or right at the end: eventually she agreed, she eventually agreed, she agreed eventually. Now the trap that catches half of Europe: eventually does not mean 'possibly'. French éventuellement, Swedish eventuellt and Czech eventuálně all mean maybe, while English eventually is a promise that the thing happens, not a doubt about whether it will. If you want the maybe, say possibly or perhaps. The adjective eventual behaves the same way — the eventual winner is the one who won at the end of it all.
1adverbeventuallyIn the end, after a long time or after many delays.
“The letter eventually arrived, three weeks late.”
synonyms: finally, at last, in the end
Also accepted in games: finally
Eventually is eventual plus -ly, and behind eventual sits event and the Proto-Indo-European root *gʷem-, 'to come'. What happens eventually is what comes out of the whole business. The 'possibly' meaning that turns up in English written by European speakers is borrowed straight from home — Czech eventuálně, French éventuellement, Swedish eventuellt. The same-looking word, the opposite promise.
Proto-Indo-European
*gʷem-
English, today
eventually
From eventual + -ly. The third sense is influenced by any of several European languages, including Czech eventuálně, French éventuellement, Swedish eventuellt.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA