selly
English
Alternative forms
- silly, sillie (Scotland)
Etymology
From Middle English selly, selly, sellich, from Old English sellīċ, seldlīċ (“rare, strange, wondrous, extraordinary, wonderful; having unusually good qualities, excellent, admirable; select, better, superior, choice”), from Proto-Germanic *seldalīkaz, equivalent to seld + -ly. Cognate with Scots selly, silly (“approved, good, worthy”), Old Saxon seldlīk (“rare, wonderful”), Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌳𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (sildaleiks, “wonderful”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsɛli/
- Homophone: celly
- Rhymes: -ɛli
Synonyms
- (rare): infrequent, scarce, uncommon; see also Thesaurus:rare
- (wonderful): enchanting, impressive, unbelievable; see also Thesaurus:wonderful
Adverb
selly (comparative sellier or more selly, superlative selliest or most selly)
- (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Wonderfully, wondrously.
- 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], (please specify the book number), [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC:
- His brother was […] selly sick and sore unsound.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old English sellīċ, seldlīċ, syllīċ, from Proto-Germanic *seldalīkaz; equivalent to selde (“uncommon”) + -ly.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsɛliː/, /ˈsɛliːtʃ(ə)/, /ˈsɛleː/
Adjective
selly
- weird, unusual, odd, bizarre
- strange, astounding, wondrous
- amazing, extraordinary, breathtaking
- many (in number); abundant.
References
- “sellī, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-04.
Adverb
selly
References
- “sellī, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-04.
References
- “sellī, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-04.
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