In small, incomplete pieces or portions; lacking continuity or completeness.
From 'fragmentary' (adjective meaning 'consisting of fragments') plus the adverbial suffix '-ly'. The '-ary' ending itself comes from Latin, used to form adjectives, and then '-ly' converts the adjective to an adverb describing how something happens.
When archaeologists piece together ancient civilizations, they work fragmentarily—finding a pottery shard here, a tool there—yet somehow these scattered pieces reveal entire vanished worlds, proving that incompleteness can still tell profound stories.
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