gladly

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *gladaz

Proto-West Germanic *glad

Old English glæd

Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der.

Proto-Germanic *līkąder.

Proto-Germanic *-līkaz

Proto-Germanic *-ê

Proto-Germanic *-līkê

Proto-West Germanic *-līkē

Old English -līċe

Old English glædlīċe

Middle English gladly

English gladly

Inherited from Middle English gladly (“joyousuly, voluntarily, easily”), from Old English glædlīċe (“gladly, pleasantly, kindly”), from glæd (“glad, bright”) + -līċe. Compare Danish glædelig (“joyful”), Icelandic gleðilegur (“delightful”). More at glad, -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡlædli/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ædli

Adverb

gladly (comparative gladlier or more gladly, superlative gladliest or most gladly)

1. In a glad manner; happily.

   Synonyms: cheerfully, gaily; see also Thesaurus:happily

   • 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:

     As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish, but I would not go out of my way to protest against it. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get. I would very gladly make mine over to him if I could.

   • 1985, Joan Morrison, chapter 4, in Share House Blues, Boolarong Publications, page 44:

     'Find me a job and I'll gladly go to work.'

2. Willingly; certainly.

   Would you like a beer? ― Gladly, thank you.

Derived terms

• suffer fools gladly

Translations

in a glad manner

• Bulgarian: охотно (bg) (ohotno)
• Burmese: ပျော်ပျော် (pyau-pyau)
• Catalan: gustosament (ca)
• Cherokee: ᎠᎵᎮᎵᎩ (aliheligi)
• Dutch: gaarne (nl), graag (nl), met plezier (nl)
• Finnish: iloisesti (fi)
• French: heureusement (fr), volontiers (fr)
• German: gern (de)
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌱𐌰 (gabaurjaba)
• Greek: ευχαρίστως (el) (efcharístos)

  Ancient Greek: ἡδέως (hēdéōs)

• Hindi: सहर्ष (hi) (saharṣ), प्रसन्नतापूर्वक (prasannatāpūrvak)
• Hungarian: szívesen (hu), örömmel (hu)
• Icelandic: gjarnan (is), gjarna (is)
• Italian: volentieri (it)
• Korean: 기꺼이 (ko) (gikkeoi)
• Ladin: gën
• Latin: libenter
• Lithuanian: džiaugsmingai
• Pannonian Rusyn: радосно (radosno), радошнє (radošnje)
• Portuguese: com prazer, de boa vontade
• Russian: охо́тно (ru) (oxótno), ра́достно (ru) (rádostno), с удово́льствием (s udovólʹstvijem)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: радо

  Latin: rado (sh)

• Spanish: gustosamente (es), a solaz
• Swedish: gärna (sv)
• Ukrainian: ра́до (rádo)

willingly, certainly

• Afrikaans: graag
• Danish: gerne (da)
• Dutch: graag (nl)
• Esperanto: volonte (eo)
• Finnish: mielellään (fi)
• French: volontiers (fr)
• German: gern (de)
• Greek: ευχαρίστως (el) (efcharístos), μετά χαράς (el) (metá charás, literally “with pleasure”)

  Ancient Greek: ἡδέως (hēdéōs)

• Hindi: प्रसन्नतापूर्वक (prasannatāpūrvak)
• Hungarian: örömmel (hu)
• Italian: volentieri (it)
• Latin: libenter
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gjerne (no)

  Nynorsk: gjerne

• Old English: lustlīċe
• Polish: chętnie (pl) (literally “willingly”), ochoczo (pl) (literally “willingly”), skwapliwie (pl)
• Portuguese: com prazer
• Russian: с удово́льствием (ru) (s udovólʹstvijem, literally “with pleasure”), охо́тно (ru) (oxótno, literally “willingly”)
• Spanish: de buena gana, gustosamente (es)
• Swedish: gärna (sv)
• Ukrainian: ра́до (rádo), охо́че (uk) (oxóče), залюбки́ (zaljubký), із задово́ленням (iz zadovólennjam), з ра́дістю (z rádistju)

Middle English

Alternative forms

• gledliche
• gleadliche
• glalli

Etymology

Inherited from Old English glædlīċe.

Adverb

gladly (comparative gladlier)

1. joyfully, joyously, with pleasure
2. willingly, voluntarily
3. customarily, habitually
4. readily, easily, freely

Descendants

• English: gladly

References

• “gladli, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.