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^(key): /ˈlɔː(ɹ)dli/

  • Audio (Southern England):

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Adjective

lordly (comparative lordlier or more lordly, superlative lordliest or most lordly)

1. 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?

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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

of or relating to a lord

• Bulgarian: господарски (bg) (gospodarski)
• German: fürstlich (de), adelig (de), einem Lord gemäß
• Middle English: lordly
• Spanish: noble (es)

having the qualities of a lord; lordlike; noble

• German: fürstlich (de), vornehm (de), herrlich (de), herrschaftlich (de), hochherrschaftlich, prächtig (de), edel (de), erhaben (de)
• Middle English: lordly
• Spanish: noble (es)

proud; haughty; imperious; insolent

• German: überheblich (de), arrogant (de), hochmütig (de), hochnäsig (de), herablassend (de), anmaßend (de), gebieterisch (de), stolz (de), herrisch (de)
• Irish: tiarnúil
• Middle English: lordly
• Spanish: pomposo (es), presuntuoso (es)

Adverb

lordly (comparative lordlier, superlative lordliest)

1. In the manner of a lord. Showing command or nobility.
   • 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 went lordly at Tiberias; / […]

   • 1925, Claude Kean, Stock Charges Against the Bible‎^[2], 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^(key): /ˈlɔːrdliː/, /-lit͡ʃ(ə)/

Adjective

lordly

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

Descendants

• English: lordly

References

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

Adverb

lordly

1. lordly (like a lord)
2. (by extension) mightily, richly, proudly

Descendants

• English: lordly

References

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