bigly

adverb

No English definition recorded for this entry.

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈbɪɡ.li/

adj

Etymology: From Middle English bygly, biglie, byggly (“comfortable, stately, perfect”), borrowed from Old Norse byggiligr, byggviligr (“habitable”); equivalent to big (“to build, construct, live in, reside, dwell”) + -ly. Cognate with Icelandic byggilegur (“inhabitable, liveable”).

Habitable, liveable; hence delightful, pleasant, pleasing.
“"And steek it weel, thy biglie bower, / And by the rood thee sain; / And tell thy bedes in haly guise, / Till this ae night is gane!"”
“When I was in my bigly bower, / I wore but what I would; / This night I'm lighter 'mang Willie's horse feet, / I fear I'll die for cold.”

adv

Etymology: From Middle English bygly, byggly, biggely. By surface analysis, big (“of great size, large (adjective); to a large extent, on a large scale; hard (adverb)”) + -ly.

In a big way, greatly; to a great extent, on a large scale.
“He looked at Mrs. Harling, who loomed bigly in the dull light.”
“Big Bessie's feet hurt like nobody's business, / but she stands—bigly—under the unruly scrutiny, stands in the wild weed.”
Strongly, with great force.
“Thesse men did much in order to publicke good, befor they spake biglie; bot done nothing since, saue that they haue drawin away considerable forces, raissed at wast charges for the publicke defence.”
“It was well obſerved by the late pious Dr Doddridge, that "The eternal ſalvation of one ſoul is of far greater importance, and bigly pregnant with far greater events, than the temporal ſalvation, wealth, well-being, or happiness of a whole kingdom, though it were for the ſpace of ten thouſand, or of ten millions of ages;[…]"”
In a blustering or boastful manner; haughtily, pompously.
“Would'ſt thou not rather chooſe a ſmall renown, / To be the mayor of ſome poor paltry town, / Bigly to look, and barbarouſly to ſpeak; / To pound falſe weights, and ſcanty meaſures break?”
“In any event, he adopted the whole of [William] Lauder's malignity; and let his partisans first clear him of this offense before they talk bigly of his innocence, and bluster in his cause.”