a suffix forming adverbs from adjectives: gladly; gradually; secondly.
a suffix meaning “every,” attached to certain nouns denoting units of time: hourly; daily.
an adjective suffix meaning “-like”: saintly; cowardly.
having the nature or qualities of
brotherly
godly
occurring at certain intervals; every
daily
yearly
Middle English adverb -li, -lich(e), Old English -līce ( -līc adjective suffix + -e adverb suffix); Middle English adjective -li, -ly, -lich(e), Old English -līc (cognate with German -lich ), suffixal use of gelīc “similar to, like”; see origin at like 1
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And below is a list of most common -ly adverbs by author.
From Slate • Nov. 21, 2013
At present they appear derivative; their termination -ly having no separate and independent existence.
From A Handbook of the English Language by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
Wonderly, wondirlie, -ly, wondurly, wondyrly, wounderly, woundyrely, adv. wondrously 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, 8.4, 10.1, 11.1, 12.3, 13.5, 14.4, 16.3, 19.1, 20.6, 24.1, 30.25, 31.25.
From Erthe Upon Erthe by Various
Again, many words without -ly have the same form, whether adverbs or adjectives.
From An English Grammar by Sewell, James Witt
The older language, however, shows that they are compounds; since -ly is nothing else than -lic, Anglo-Saxon; -lih, Old High German; -leiks, Mœso-Gothic; = like, or similis, and equally with it an independent separate word.
From A Handbook of the English Language by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
