lordly
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈlɔː(ɹ)dli/
Forms: form: lordlier
form: more lordly
form: lordliest
form: most lordly
form: 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.
Senses: examples: text: Show us your lordly might: demonstrate that you can order people and get them to obey.
text: But they are the peers of the Queensland Parliament, and, having no lordly robes, must approach the Old Country model as closely as possible.
ref: 1880, John Nichols, The Gentleman’s Magazine, volume 248, page 60:
text: [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'.
ref: 2006, Steve Wharton, Screening Reality, page 104:
text: 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?
ref: 2011, Thomas Smith, C. Matthew McMahon, Therese B. McMahon, Select Memoirs of the English and Scottish Divines, page 282:
text: [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?
ref: 2011, Mary Jane Staples, Appointment at the Palace: An Adams Family Saga Novel, page 275:
glosses: Of or relating to a lord.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part II”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 30:
glosses: Having the qualities of a lord; lordlike; noble
examples: text: He asked water, and she gaue him milke, shee brought forth butter in a lordly dish.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Judges 5:25:
text: It had also its Hall, called the Priory—an older, a larger, a more lordly abode than any Briarfield or Whinbury owned; […]
ref: 1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “The First Blue-Stocking”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 77:
text: The maidens gathered strength and grace / And presence, lordlier than before.
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “(please specify |part=Prologue or Rpilogue, or |canto=I to CXXIX)”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
text: There was one great tomb more lordly than all the rest.
ref: 1897, Bram Stoker, “Mina Harker’s Journal”, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC, chapter XXVII, pages 409–410:
text: 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.
ref: 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 57:
glosses: Appropriate for, or suitable to, a lord; glorious.
examples: text: Lords are Lordlieſt in thir wine; […]
ref: 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:
glosses: Proud; haughty; imperious; insolent.
Derived terms: lordlily
lordliness
unlordly