savely

Middle English

Alternative forms

• sauflyche, saufly, safly, safliche, sauveli, savelie, saveliche, salfly

Etymology

From sauf +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsau̯fliː/, /ˈsaːv(ə)liː/, /ˈsaːf(ə)liː/, /ˈsau̯fliːtʃ(ə)/

Adverb

savely

1. With safety; without harm or injury:
   1. Lacking danger; safely, harmlessly or in a dangerless manner.
   2. Avoiding sin; in a morally sound or safe manner.
   3. With no risk to one's health or fitness; healthily.
2. With security; without risk:
   1. Guardedly; ensuring security and lack of loss.
   2. For defensive purposes; in order to preempt harm.
3. Without doubt or unsureness; with certainness.
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Nun's Priest's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 4396-4399:

     God woot that worldly Ioye is sone ago;
     And if a rethor coude faire endyte,
     He in a cronique saufly mighte it wryte,
     As for a sovereyn notabilitee.

     God knows that worldly joy is soon gone;
     And if a rhetorician could fairly compose,
     He in a chronicle confidently could write it,
     As a supremely important fact.

Descendants

• English: safely
• Scots: safely

References

• “sauflī, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-30.