farlie

English

Etymology

From Middle English farli, ferly, ferlich, feorlich (“a wonderful thing, a marvel, a wonder”), from Middle English farli, ferly, verlich, ferlik, ferlic, feorlic (“terrible, marvellous, wonderful”), from Old English fǣrlīċ (“sudden, unexpected, quick, horrible”), equivalent to fear +‎ -ly. Cognate with Scots ferlie (“farlie”), Old Norse ferlíki, ferlíkan (“a monster, abnormality, monstrosity”), Old Norse ferligr (“monstrous”).

Noun

farlie (plural farlies)

1. (obsolete, UK, dialect) An unusual or unexpected thing; a wonder.
   • 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, song 10 p. 161:

     (Whilst thus himselfe to please, the mightie Mountaine tells
     Such farlies of his Cluyd, and of his wondrous Wells)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “farlie”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• A-lifer, failer, ferial, fraile