"folly" meaning in Middle English

See folly in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

IPA: /ˈfoː(l)liː/, /ˈfoː(l)lit͡ʃ(ə)/ Forms: folliche [alternative], follyche [alternative], foly [alternative], folyche [alternative], folik [alternative, Northern]
Etymology: From fol (“fool”) + -ly (adverbial suffix). Etymology templates: {{af|enm|fol|-ly|id1=fool|id2=adverbial|pos2=adverbial suffix|t1=fool}} fol (“fool”) + -ly (adverbial suffix) Head templates: {{head|enm|adverb||||{{{2}}}|head=}} folly, {{enm-adv}} folly
  1. Foolishly; in an ill-advised manner.
    Sense id: en-folly-enm-adv-9MU5Qmmt Categories (other): Ethics Disambiguation of Ethics: 50 50
  2. (rare) In a sinful or lustful manner. Tags: rare
    Sense id: en-folly-enm-adv-PKCf6q70 Categories (other): Ethics Disambiguation of Ethics: 50 50
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Categories (other): Mind Disambiguation of Mind: 0 0

Alternative forms

{
  "categories": [
    {
      "_dis": "0 0",
      "kind": "other",
      "langcode": "enm",
      "name": "Mind",
      "orig": "enm:Mind",
      "parents": [],
      "source": "w+disamb"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "fol",
        "3": "-ly",
        "id1": "fool",
        "id2": "adverbial",
        "pos2": "adverbial suffix",
        "t1": "fool"
      },
      "expansion": "fol (“fool”) + -ly (adverbial suffix)",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From fol (“fool”) + -ly (adverbial suffix).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "folliche",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "follyche",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "foly",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "folyche",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "folik",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Northern"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "adverb",
        "3": "",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "6": "{{{2}}}",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "folly",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "folly",
      "name": "enm-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Ethics",
          "orig": "enm:Ethics",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Foolishly; in an ill-advised manner."
      ],
      "id": "en-folly-enm-adv-9MU5Qmmt",
      "links": [
        [
          "Foolishly",
          "foolishly"
        ],
        [
          "ill-advised",
          "ill-advised"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Ethics",
          "orig": "enm:Ethics",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a sinful or lustful manner."
      ],
      "id": "en-folly-enm-adv-PKCf6q70",
      "links": [
        [
          "sinful",
          "sinful"
        ],
        [
          "lustful",
          "lustful"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) In a sinful or lustful manner."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfoː(l)liː/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfoː(l)lit͡ʃ(ə)/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "folly"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "Middle English adverbs",
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English lemmas",
    "Middle English terms suffixed with -ly (adverbial)",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "enm:Ethics",
    "enm:Mind"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "fol",
        "3": "-ly",
        "id1": "fool",
        "id2": "adverbial",
        "pos2": "adverbial suffix",
        "t1": "fool"
      },
      "expansion": "fol (“fool”) + -ly (adverbial suffix)",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From fol (“fool”) + -ly (adverbial suffix).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "folliche",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "follyche",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "foly",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "folyche",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "folik",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "Northern"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "adverb",
        "3": "",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "6": "{{{2}}}",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "folly",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "folly",
      "name": "enm-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Foolishly; in an ill-advised manner."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Foolishly",
          "foolishly"
        ],
        [
          "ill-advised",
          "ill-advised"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Middle English terms with rare senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a sinful or lustful manner."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "sinful",
          "sinful"
        ],
        [
          "lustful",
          "lustful"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) In a sinful or lustful manner."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfoː(l)liː/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfoː(l)lit͡ʃ(ə)/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "folly"
}

Download raw JSONL data for folly meaning in Middle English (1.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Middle English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-05-27 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-05-01 using wiktextract (4997730 and 9380997). 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.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.