Picture a gap left in a join. The two things are connected — a towel round a neck, a screw in a hole — but not pressed together, so there is still room to move. Loosely is that gap turned into a way of doing something. The gap can be physical, or it can sit between a film and the true story, between a group and its rules, or between a speaker and the word they just chose.
From the word’s history
The packet's source entry derives it from Middle English lously, equivalent to loose + -ly — the adjective for the gap, turned into an adverb for acting with a gap left in.
packet 裡的來源說它來自中古英文 lously，等於 loose ＋ -ly。也就是把「鬆」這個形容詞，變成形容動作的副詞：做的時候留著那道空隙。
Wiktionary entry supplied in this packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1196270425): 'From Middle English lously; equivalent to loose + -ly.'
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