Very cautiously

If someone came up to you on the street and asked what "ginger" is, you'd say, of course,that ginger is

(1) : a thickened pungent aromatic rhizome that is used as a spice and sometimes medicinally (2) : the spice usually prepared by drying and grinding ginger

"But, but, but," your questioner might continue, "why, then, does 'gingerly' mean 'very cautiously.' How do you get that from an "aromatic rhizome?"

"Ah," you'd reply, "so it's etymology you're interested in. Well, the 'ginger' we've been talking about comes from Middle English as an alteration of Old English 'gingifer,' from Medieval Latin 'gingiber,' alteration of Latin 'zingiber,' from Greek 'zingiberi,' of Indo-Aryan origin; akin to Pali 'siṅgivēra ginger.'" (Good thing you memorized that page of the dictionary!)

You continue: "'Gingerly,' in contrast, probably comes from the Old French 'gensor' (the comparative form of 'gent,' meaning 'dainty, delicate') which, in turn, comes from the Latin 'gentius' ('well-born') from which we also derived 'gentle.' (Good thing Merriam-Webster isn't the only dictionary you memorized.)