Reasonably means to a fair degree, or in a sensible way. Two senses that pull in different directions.
The degree sense is a hedge and it is everywhere in British English: reasonably good, reasonably priced, reasonably confident. It means better than adequate and short of excellent, and understatement does the rest. The other sense is about conduct, so behaving reasonably means acting sensibly and fairly, and one could reasonably conclude means the conclusion is defensible. Only context separates them.
1adverbreasonablyTo a fair or moderate degree.
“The hotel was reasonably comfortable.”
2adverbsensibleIn a sensible and fair way.
“He behaved perfectly reasonably throughout.”
Middle English
resonably
English, today
reasonably
From Middle English resonably, equivalent to reasonable + -ly. rationably.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Man Called Ove
First appears in chapter 13 of A Man Called Ove.
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