initially

Etymology

initial + -ly

adv

1. At the beginning.
   Initially, I found city life incredibly difficult, but now I'm used to it.
   In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way. 2013-06-07, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 6
   Unsurprisingly, the Group was highly critical of the BTC's organisation and finances, and this prompted Marples to bring forward the Transport Act 1962, which created BR as a standalone entity with its own Board, headed by a full-time chairman. Beeching accepted this latter position, and initially became the BTC chairman in June 1961. March 8 2023, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 43