whitely

See also: Whitely

English

Etymology

From white +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwʌɪtli/

Adjective

whitely (comparative more whitely, superlative most whitely)

1. (now rare, Scotland) White; pale. [from 14th c.]
   • 15th c., Robert Henryson, The Testament of Cresseid, lines 213-214,^[1]

     The secund steid to name hecht Ethios,

     Quhitlie and paill […]

   • c. 1598 William Shakespeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost, London: Cutbert Burby, 1598, [Act III, Scene 1],^[2]

     […] among three to loue the worst of all,

     A whitly wanton, with a veluet brow,

     With two pitch balles stucke in her face for eyes.

   • 1684, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part Two, London: W. Johnson, 1755, p. 122,^[3]

     I perceive you know him, and am apt to believe also, That you were related one to another; for you have his whitely Look, a Cast like his with your Eye, and your Speech is much alike.

Adverb

whitely (comparative more whitely, superlative most whitely)

1. In a white manner. [from 14th c.]
   • 1887, Thomas Hardy, The Woodlanders, Chapter 2,^[4]

     […] she opened a door which disclosed a staircase so whitely scrubbed that the grain of the wood was wellnigh sodden away by such cleansing.

   • 1922, E. E. Cummings, “Songs, III” in Tulips and Chimneys, New York: Liveright, 1976, p. 12,^[5]

     it is the autumn of a year:

     When through the thin air stooped with fear,

     across the harvest whitely peer

     empty of surprise

     death’s faultless eyes

   • 1928, Edmund Blunden, Undertones of War, Penguin 2010, p. 161:

     an enemy aeroplane flew part of the way with us, and bomb after bomb burst flaming in the fields alongside, until ‘wished morn’ whitely appeared.

   • 1928, Dorothy Parker, “Dilemma” in Sunset Gun, Garden City, NY: Sun Dial, 1941, p. 63,^[6]

     Were I to murmur “Yes,” and then

     “How true, my dear,” and “Yes,” again,

     And wear my eyes discreetly down,

     And tremble whitely at your frown,

     And keep my words unquestioning—

     My love, you’d run like anything!

Anagrams

• Whitley