ruly
adverb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L198853 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈɹuːli/
adj
Etymology: Back-formation from unruly, or perhaps a continuation of Middle English rewly, ruly, reuli (“subject to a religious rule, regular”), equivalent to rule + -ly, rule + -y; or perhaps from Old French rulé, reulé, rieulé (“ruled”), past participle of rieuler (“to rule”). More at rule.
- Neat and orderly.
“What is certain is that everything they see is strange: the lifeless neatness of the courtyard, the straightness of the paths, the ruly gang of labourers in their dull uniforms and with their ageless, polished faces.”
“1610: John Marston, Histrio-Mastix, page 28 (quarto): [Perpetuana:] Nay Ile be matchlesse for a carckanet,/Whose Pearles and Diamonds plac'd with ruly rocks/Shall circle this faire necke to set it forth [.]”
adv
Etymology: From Middle English rewly, reoly, reowliche, from Old English hrēowlīċe (“cruelly”), equivalent to rue + -ly.
- Pitiably; miserably.