covertlyadv.
/ˈkəʊvəːtli/, /ˈkʌvətli/, /kəʊˈvəːtli/, U.S. /ˈkoʊvərtli/, /koʊˈvərtli/, /ˈkəvərtli/ In a covert manner.† 1. In a close covered manner; closely.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > [adverb]
straitc1330
covertly1430
straitly1487
at (also to) hard meat1542
close1562
closely1597
1430 in J. H. Parker Some Acct. Domest. Archit. (1859) III. 39 So couertly euery thynge was couered.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ii. l. 277 Rycht couertly thai kepe him in that caiff.
1585 Queen Elizabeth I in W. B. Scoones Four Cent. Eng. Lett. (1880) 29 That princes causes be vailed so couvertly that no intelligence may bewraye them.
2. In a concealed manner; secretly, privately.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [adverb]
stillyc1000
dernlyc1175
dernea1200
privement?c1225
hidlingsa1250
in hidela1300
in scubardisa1300
stilla1300
hidel-likea1325
privyc1330
ywryȝeliche1340
in secre wysec1374
hidinglya1382
hidlya1382
in privy1384
closea1387
secrelyc1386
stalworthlya1400
covertlyc1400
secrec1405
in hidlings1422
secretly1447
secretementc1470
in secret1474
hugger-muggera1529
in hugger-mugger1529
secret1539
underboard1548
closely1552
darkly1559
in secret wise1563
hiddenly1580
tectly1587
underwater1600
concealedly1622
underground1632
occultly1641
in petto1647
under the rosea1704
subterraneously1791
suppressedly1825
underfoot1860
c1400 Rom. Rose 6113 He his lyf led covertly In Gile and in Ipocrisie.
1430 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy iii. xxv The tother eye can laugh couertly.
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) li. sig. Kvv Commaundinge them al to be..in..a certayn place as couertly as they myght wythout any noyse.
1653 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto Voy. & Adventures xxvi. 97 Getting Information very covertly.
1789 H. Walpole Reminiscences (1924) ii. 16 To make his addresses to her not covertly.
1874 J. L. Motley Life John of Barneveld II. xxii. 420 Intimations were covertly made to him.
3. In a veiled or hidden manner; with the sense implied, not expressed; indirectly, by implication.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > keeping from knowledge > hidden or indirect meaning > [adverb]
sidelings?a1400
covertlyc1400
impliedlyc1449
by implicationa1575
implicatelya1575
implicatively1579
over the shoulder1596
interpretatively1602
implicitly1610
indirectly1613
insinuatively1617
enfoldedly1624
involvedly1624
tacitly1635
tacidly1640
by interpretation1692
adumbratively1753
inexplicitly1776
interpretively1867
c1400 Rom. Rose 19 Wightes That dremen..Ful many thinges covertly That fallen after al openly.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xix. 305 Whan Blase herde Merlin thus couertly speke.
1586 W. Webbe Disc. Eng. Poetrie sig. E.iiii v Virgill hath a gallant report of Augustus couertly comprysed in the first Æglogue.
1690 T. Burnet Theory of Earth iv. 158 There are, covertly or expresly..glances upon the Millennium.
1783 Ld. Hailes Disquis. Antiq. Christian Church v. 152 He treats of them, although covertly and in an indirect manner.
1824 J. Mackintosh Icon Basiliké in Wks. (1846) I. 512 In these two letters,—more covertly in the first, more openly in the second,—Gauden apprises Lord Clarendon, that [etc.].
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.c1400