"sely" meaning in English

See sely in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Forms: selier [comparative], seliest [superlative]
Etymology: From Middle English sely, from Old English sǣliġ (“blessed, fortunate”), (also gesǣliġ (“happy, prosperous, blessed, fortunate”)), from Proto-West Germanic *sālīg (“happy”). Equivalent to seel + -y. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|sely|}} Middle English sely, {{inh|en|ang|sǣliġ||blessed, fortunate}} Old English sǣliġ (“blessed, fortunate”), {{inh|en|gmw-pro|*sālīg||happy}} Proto-West Germanic *sālīg (“happy”), {{suffix|en|seel|y}} seel + -y Head templates: {{en-adj|er}} sely (comparative selier, superlative seliest)
  1. Obsolete form of silly (especially in its older senses like "innocent", "pitiable, poor", "trifling, insignificant", but also "foolish"). Tags: alt-of, obsolete Alternative form of: silly (extra: especially in its older senses like "innocent", "pitiable, poor", "trifling, insignificant", but also "foolish")
    Sense id: en-sely-en-adj-SVoVfCmT Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -y, Pages with 2 entries, Pages with entries, Pages with 2 entries, Pages with entries Disambiguation of Pages with 2 entries: 9 29 32 31 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 11 32 35 22
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "sely",
        "4": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English sely",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "sǣliġ",
        "4": "",
        "5": "blessed, fortunate"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English sǣliġ (“blessed, fortunate”)",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*sālīg",
        "4": "",
        "5": "happy"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *sālīg (“happy”)",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "seel",
        "3": "y"
      },
      "expansion": "seel + -y",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English sely, from Old English sǣliġ (“blessed, fortunate”), (also gesǣliġ (“happy, prosperous, blessed, fortunate”)), from Proto-West Germanic *sālīg (“happy”). Equivalent to seel + -y.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "selier",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "seliest",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "er"
      },
      "expansion": "sely (comparative selier, superlative seliest)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "especially in its older senses like \"innocent\", \"pitiable, poor\", \"trifling, insignificant\", but also \"foolish\"",
          "word": "silly"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -y",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 2 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 29 32 31",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 2 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 32 35 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1842 10, Lucas's Penny Library, page 18:",
          "text": "But the troubles of this \"poor \"sely innocent\" were not yet over. The King's mother is indignant at so strange a marriage; and one day in his absence, and by her machinations, Constance and her young child are placed on board a ship to take her chance in the wild sea.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1861, The Church Historians of England: Reformation Period, page 393:",
          "text": "... for he, seeing his old and trusty servant so many years, with so extreme A.D. and many torments, broken and dried up, would in no wise heap so many sorrows upon one poor sely wretch, neither would commit him to the flames of fire[…]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1872, Emily Sarah Holt, Robin Tremayne, page 250:",
          "text": "... my poor sely maiden Maria; but I should find it hard to write a fourth within this palace. I may not make my letter much longer. Prithee tell me some news of England, if any be; and shouldst thou hear ought of my gracious mistress[…]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Obsolete form of silly (especially in its older senses like \"innocent\", \"pitiable, poor\", \"trifling, insignificant\", but also \"foolish\")."
      ],
      "id": "en-sely-en-adj-SVoVfCmT",
      "links": [
        [
          "silly",
          "silly#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "sely"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "sely",
        "4": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English sely",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "sǣliġ",
        "4": "",
        "5": "blessed, fortunate"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English sǣliġ (“blessed, fortunate”)",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*sālīg",
        "4": "",
        "5": "happy"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *sālīg (“happy”)",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "seel",
        "3": "y"
      },
      "expansion": "seel + -y",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English sely, from Old English sǣliġ (“blessed, fortunate”), (also gesǣliġ (“happy, prosperous, blessed, fortunate”)), from Proto-West Germanic *sālīg (“happy”). Equivalent to seel + -y.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "selier",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "seliest",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "er"
      },
      "expansion": "sely (comparative selier, superlative seliest)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "especially in its older senses like \"innocent\", \"pitiable, poor\", \"trifling, insignificant\", but also \"foolish\"",
          "word": "silly"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English adjectives",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English obsolete forms",
        "English terms derived from Middle English",
        "English terms derived from Old English",
        "English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic",
        "English terms inherited from Middle English",
        "English terms inherited from Old English",
        "English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic",
        "English terms suffixed with -y",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 2 entries",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1842 10, Lucas's Penny Library, page 18:",
          "text": "But the troubles of this \"poor \"sely innocent\" were not yet over. The King's mother is indignant at so strange a marriage; and one day in his absence, and by her machinations, Constance and her young child are placed on board a ship to take her chance in the wild sea.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1861, The Church Historians of England: Reformation Period, page 393:",
          "text": "... for he, seeing his old and trusty servant so many years, with so extreme A.D. and many torments, broken and dried up, would in no wise heap so many sorrows upon one poor sely wretch, neither would commit him to the flames of fire[…]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1872, Emily Sarah Holt, Robin Tremayne, page 250:",
          "text": "... my poor sely maiden Maria; but I should find it hard to write a fourth within this palace. I may not make my letter much longer. Prithee tell me some news of England, if any be; and shouldst thou hear ought of my gracious mistress[…]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Obsolete form of silly (especially in its older senses like \"innocent\", \"pitiable, poor\", \"trifling, insignificant\", but also \"foolish\")."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "silly",
          "silly#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "sely"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-23 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-21 using wiktextract (fef8596 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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