# lordly
## English
### Alternative forms

* Lordly

### Etymology

From Middle English lordly, lordlich, from Old English hlāfordlīċ (“lordly; heroic; noble”), equivalent to lord +‎ -ly.
The adverb is from Middle English lordly, lordely, lordliche.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈlɔː(ɹ)dli/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)

### Adjective

lordly (comparative lordlier or more lordly, superlative lordliest or most lordly)
* Of or relating to a lord.
    Show us your lordly might: demonstrate that you can order people and get them to obey.
** 1880, John Nichols, The Gentleman’s Magazine, volume 248, page 60:But they are the peers of the Queensland Parliament, and, having no lordly robes, must approach the Old Country model as closely as possible.
** 2006, Steve Wharton, Screening Reality, page 104:[I]n that some form of duty and sacrifice (here, participation in the 1848 Revolution and a recognition of his lordly 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, page 282:Samson, in reply to this, says, “If you are not lordly, nor value your lordly 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, page 275:[H]e's still got his lordly 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 his lordly crown with style,' said Rachel. 'Don't I know it?
* Having the qualities of a lord; lordlike; noble
** 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part II”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 30: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 / None lordlier than themselves but that which made / Woman and man.
* Appropriate for, or suitable to, a lord; glorious.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Judges 5:25:He asked water, and she gaue him milke, shee brought forth butter in a lordly dish.
** 1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “The First Blue-Stocking”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 77:It had also its Hall, called the Priory—an older, a larger, a more lordly abode than any Briarfield or Whinbury owned; […]
** 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, (please specify |part=Prologue or Rpilogue, or |canto=I to CXXIX):The maidens gathered strength and grace / And presence, lordlier than before.
** 1897, Bram Stoker, “Mina Harker’s Journal”, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC, chapter XXVII, pages 409–410:There was one great tomb more lordly than all the rest.
** 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 57: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 a lordly pull at it.
* Proud; haughty; imperious; insolent.
** 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 84:Lords are Lordlieſt in thir wine; […]

#### Derived terms

* lordliness

#### Translations
### Adverb

lordly (comparative lordlier, superlative lordliest)
* In the manner of a lord. Showing command or nobility.
** 1891, Sir Edwin Arnold, The Light of the World: Or, The Great Consummation, Book I — “Mary Magdalene”, Funk & Wagnalls, page 56,
    […] / And Herod's painted pinnaces, ablaze / With lamps, and brazen shields and spangled slaves, / Came and went lordly at Tiberias; / […]
** 1925, Claude Kean, Stock Charges Against the Bible‎, published 2003, page 61:Look at man, then, walking lordly 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.

### Anagrams

* drolly

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* lordeliche, lordely, lordli, lordlich, lordliche, lordlyche, loverdlich

### Etymology

From Old English hlāfordlīċ; equivalent to lord +‎ -ly (adjectival suffix). The adverb is from the adjective.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈlɔːrdliː/, /-lit͡ʃ(ə)/

### Adjective

lordly
* lordly (related to or appropriate for a lord)
* (by extension) bold, powerful, proud

#### Descendants

* English: lordly

#### References

* “lōrdlī, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

### Adverb

lordly
* lordly (like a lord)
* (by extension) mightily, richly, proudly

#### Descendants

* English: lordly

#### References

* “lōrdlī, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.