FromMiddle Englishlordly,lordlich, fromOld Englishhlāfordlīċ(“lordly; heroic; noble”), equivalent tolord +-ly.
The adverb is fromMiddle Englishlordly,lordely,lordliche.
lordly (comparativelordlierormorelordly,superlativelordliestormostlordly)
- Of or relating to alord.
Show us yourlordly might: demonstrate that you can order people and get them to obey.
1880, John Nichols,The Gentleman’s Magazine, volume248, page60:But they are the peers of the Queensland Parliament, and, having nolordly robes, must approach the Old Country model as closely as possible.
2006, Steve Wharton,Screening Reality, page104:[I]n that some form of duty and sacrifice (here, participation in the 1848 Revolution and a recognition of hislordly duty) is not only beneficially character-forming but also leads ultimately to a condition which is 'sublime'.
2011, Thomas Smith, C. Matthew McMahon, Therese B. McMahon,Select Memoirs of the English and Scottish Divines, page282:Samson, in reply to this, says, “If you are notlordly, nor value yourlordly title, as you tell me, and I trust in truth and sincerity, shall I call you a phoenix?
2011, Mary Jane Staples,Appointment at the Palace: An Adams Family Saga Novel, page275:[H]e's still got hislordly habits, and more so since coming out of the war as a general.' 'A colonel, Sammy,' said Rachel. 'Same thing, good as,' said Sammy. 'Boots, of course, does wear hislordly crown with style,' said Rachel. 'Don't I know it?
- Having the qualities of a lord;lordlike;noble
1847,Alfred Tennyson, “Part II”, inThe Princess: A Medley, London:Edward Moxon, […],→OCLC,page30:Deep, indeed, / Their debt of thanks to her who first had dared / To leap the rotten pales of prejudice, / Disyoke their necks from custom, and assert / Nonelordlier than themselves but that which made / Woman and man.
- Appropriate for, orsuitable to, a lord;glorious.
1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym;Charlotte Brontë], “The First Blue-Stocking”, inShirley. A Tale. […], volume III, London:Smith, Elder and Co., […],→OCLC,page77:It had also its Hall, called the Priory—an older, a larger, amore lordly abode than any Briarfield or Whinbury owned;[…]
1938, Norman Lindsay,Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.:Ure Smith, published1962,→OCLC, page57:That night the whisky was unstoppered and Bradly lolled in bed, smoking, and betimes sweeping out an arm of conquest for his nobbler and taking alordly pull at it.
- Proud; haughty; imperious; insolent.
having the qualities of a lord; lordlike; noble
proud; haughty; imperious; insolent
lordly (comparativelordlier,superlativelordliest)
- In the manner of alord. Showingcommand ornobility.
- 1891,Sir Edwin Arnold,The Light of the World: Or, The Great Consummation,[1] Book I — “Mary Magdalene”, Funk & Wagnalls,page 56,
- […] / And Herod's painted pinnaces, ablaze / With lamps, and brazen shields and spangled slaves, / Came and wentlordly at Tiberias; / […]
1925, Claude Kean,Stock Charges Against the Bible[2], published2003, page61:Look at man, then, walkinglordly amidst the gigantic flora and fauna of long ago; and see if seven, eight, nine hundred years do not sit serenely on his mighty brow.
FromOld Englishhlāfordlīċ; equivalent tolord +-ly(adjectival suffix). The adverb is from the adjective.
- IPA(key): /ˈlɔːrdliː/,/-lit͡ʃ(ə)/
lordly
- lordly(related to orappropriate for a lord)
- (by extension)bold,powerful,proud
lordly
- lordly(like a lord)
- (by extension)mightily,richly,proudly
