happilyadv.
/ˈhapᵻli/, U.S. /ˈhæpəli/ 1. By chance; perhaps, possibly. Cf. haply adv. Now archaic and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [adverb]
feringc1000
feringlya1300
by casec1300
chancefully1303
lotc1325
peradventurec1325
of chance1330
happilya1375
in hapa1375
upon hapsa1375
casuallyc1384
perchancec1387
chancely1389
by fortune1390
haplyc1390
by (also of) adventurea1393
percasea1393
adventurelyc1400
percase1402
accidently?a1425
adventurously1440
by (good, lucky, etc.) hap?a1450
accidentally1528
chanceably1559
bechance1569
chance1595
casual-wise1601
accidental1622
occasionally1622
fortuitouslya1652
contingently1668
by chance1669
chanceable1709
per-hazard1788
chance-wise1844
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 2774 Þe boie of þe barge..happili to þe hinde he hit þanne formest.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. v. l. 624 Þe dore closed..to kepe þe with-outen; Happily [c1390 Vernon A. vi. l. 104 Hapliche] an hundreth wyntre.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 109 Þat appily I be not greuid to denay God.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. lxxviv/1 Or I was vnworthy to them, or happely they were vnworthy to me.
?1526 G. Hervet tr. Erasmus De Immensa Dei Misericordia sig. L.iii The iuge was taken with a trip, and he ouercame that committed to hym ye iugement: Dauid was happily ouercome.
1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 379 Suche as happely wil demaund, what reason this custome,..hathe.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iv. ii. 52 That the soule of our grandam, might happily inhabite a bird. View more context for this quotation
1693 T. P. Blount Nat. Hist. 432 Happily there may not be so considerable Alterations in the gravity of the Atmosphere far off at Land.
1703 J. Oldmixon Amores Britannici ii. vii. 149 Tho happily the Muse may merit Praise, A Crownet, makes a better Shew, than Bays.
1763 C. Churchill Ghost (ed. 3) 191 Such be their arts, and such perchance, May happily their ends advance.
1890 I. Taylor Origin Aryans 18 The Iranian traditions may take us back for three, or happily, for four thousand years.
1922 Outing Apr. 43/1 I enclose you a little reminder of home, which may happily make you homesick, for the mountain air and the delight of frontier life.
2. With or by good fortune; successfully; fortunately, luckily (now frequently as a sentence adverb).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > [adverb] > fortunately or luckily
happilya1375
graciouslya1382
blessedlyc1420
happenlyc1450
faira1475
luckly1538
fortunately1548
fortunably?1567
luckily1590
providently1600
comiclya1633
providentially1648
comically1717
well-favouredly1773
serendipitously1969
good-enough1982
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 2495 No gom miȝt hem finde, so happiliche þei hem hidde.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 986 Schir Ihone the Grayme to thaim come happely.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 170 He tooke with hym..a greate mayny that he happely mette on ye waye as he wente.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 266 It chaunced so happely the same time for the Englishmen, that [etc.].
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII v. ii. 8 I am glad I came this way so happily . View more context for this quotation
1748 D. Hume Let. 10 Mar. (1932) I. 116 Happily, the Revolution begun in the Spring, when the Primroses & Daffadilys coud serve as Orange Cockades.
1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. II. 287 How happily several members of the Arcadian academy have succeeded.
a1805 A. Murphy Hamlet i, in J. Foot Life A. Murphy (1811) 260 If thou art privy to what Foote's about, Which, happily, foreknowing may avoid, O, speak!
1872 J. Morley Voltaire iii. 103 The case [sc. an ill-tempered quarrel] happily stands alone in his biography.
1941 Life 28 Apr. 110/2 She found out it was a valuable guppy which, happily, managed to survive the chill.
1994 Harper's Mag. Apr. 15/1 Synthetic violence is a drug, which, happily for its suppliers, returns a handsome rate of profit in all the major markets.
2008 Independent 15 May 33/6 Happily, a wedding offers endless opportunities to challenge persistent assumptions about desperate women on the last-chance express.
3.
a. With successful or satisfactory adaptation to circumstances; aptly, fitly, appropriately; felicitously.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > [adverb] > appositely
feelinglya1382
pertinentlyc1425
happily?1504
aptlya1529
punctually1570
pat1578
to scopea1616
appositely1633
apropos1668
felicitously1828
?1504 W. Atkinson tr. Thomas à Kempis Ful Treat. Imytacyon Cryste (Pynson) i. xxiii. sig. Civ These shall enduce vs too haue a greate confidence to departe happelye oute of this worlde.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 168 Shee happily resteth with him, whom in her life time she so earnestly serued.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. ii. 174 Thou art to wild, to rude, and bold of voyce, Parts that become thee happily enough. View more context for this quotation
1634 W. Tirwhyt tr. J. L. G. de Balzac Lett. 341 After those haue bin rightly conceiued, they are as happily to bee expressed.
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ i. i. §20 Some (I will not say how happily) have conjectured, that [etc.].
1717 A. Pope in tr. Homer Iliad III. xi. Observ. 873 It is impossible that any thing should be more happily imagin'd than this Similitude.
1774 J. Bryant New Syst. (new ed.) I. p. xiii Their chronology..coincides very happily with the accounts given by Moses.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 412 Minds..happily constituted for the cultivation of science purely experimental.
1874 ‘G. Eliot’ in J. W. Cross George Eliot's Life (1885) III. 235 A capital example of your happily-planned publication.
1914 School Arts Mag. Feb. 479/1 The long line rests where there is most room for it; the year fits happily into the space above it.
2004 Times Lit. Suppl. 27 Aug. 10/2 Children's needs and children's lives do not always integrate happily with adult agendas.
b. With reference to plant growth: healthily; vigorously, in a flourishing manner; (also) with the capability of growing well (in particular environmental conditions). Cf. happy adj. 5e.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by good growth > [adverb]
happily1743
1743 J. Davidson tr. Virgil Georgics i. 73, in Wks. Virgil I. To Learn the Winds, and various Quality of the Climate, The Ways of Culture practised by our Forefathers, and the Genius and Habits of the Soil; what each Country is apt to produce, and what to refuse. Here Corn, there Grapes more happily grow.
1881 R. Weldon Pax viii. 22 By their frequent journeys into France and Italy, were collected the choicest flowers..transplanted into their native soil where they most happily flourished.
1907 Country Life 22 June 914 The rhododendrons, happily growing in suitable soil, are of great magnificence, and every kind is represented.
1963 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 28 Aug. 14/2 But prairie grasslands would survive up to 20,000 roentgens, most weeds up to 50,000, and ‘crabgrass would grow quite happily even at 100,000 roentgens’.
1992 Spectator 18 Jan. 39/1 The spurge laurel is one of the few plants which will happily stand the drip from the trees.
2007 T. Petherick Sufficient (2009) 130 Once they have germinated and the plants have started to grow, they are foolproof and will climb away happily on their own.
4. With mental pleasure or contentment; in a pleased or contented manner.In early instances difficult to distinguish from senses 2 and 3.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > happiness > [adverb]
seelilya1000
eadilyOE
blissfully?c1225
likinglyc1430
benewrely1483
happily?1532
?1532 T. Paynell tr. Erasmus De Contemptu Mundi xi. sig. M.ii They knowe hit and that happilye, the whiche pleased god shulde haue experience.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 103v He should liue happyly, though he liued without his compaignie.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) i. iii. 57 He writes How happily he liues, how well-belou'd. View more context for this quotation
1682 J. Norris tr. Hierocles Golden Verses 134 Which they once happily enjoy'd.
1719 J. T. Philipps tr. B. Ziegenbalg Thirty-four Confer. 316 The Inhabitants live very easie and happily in all these Four Provinces.
1796 tr. A. von Kotzebue Negro Slaves iii. ii. 108 One may live happily under a roof of palm-leaves!
1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxi. 19 So with Mallius happily Happy Julia weddeth.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 397 Those who would live happily should..do no wrong to one another.
1913 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 22 Feb. 9/2 He looked up at Ryan and smiled happily.
1920 Everybody's Mag. June 110/2 He..was whistling cheerfully and happily as he swung open the neatly lettered door of his own office.
2003 Parents Nov. 230/1 In the sunny, cheerful room, eight 2-year-olds are playing happily.
5.
a. With no sense of guilt, unease, or remorse.
ΚΠ
1820 London Lit. Gaz. 27 May 348/2 The cockney passion for ruralizing is happily ridiculed in the male Londoner, whose recreation, in the midst of nature's loveliness, is the reading of the Newspaper.
1896 A. Morrison Child of Jago i. 6 With a sudden blow behind the head, the stranger was happily coshed, and whatever was found on him, as he lay insensible, was the profit on the transaction.
1979 W. B. Ober Boswell's Clap (1988) Pref. p. ix I fear that members of the antibiographical school would happily dismiss Johnson's Lives of the Poets because they place small value on ‘the common sense of readers uncorrupted by literary prejudices’.
1992 Times Sat. Rev. 6 June 6/4 Austria, desperate for energy, has been happily aiding the despoilation of the Danube.
2011 Western Daily Press (Bristol) (Nexis) 11 Feb. 20 Ethical financial products are based on a wide range of criteria, from strict religious rules, to happily investing in arms manufacturers—so long as the fund manager promises that the company only supplies the good guys.
b. Willingly, eagerly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > willingness > [adverb]
to goodeOE
thankc888
yernec888
lieflyc900
lovelyeOE
lustly971
willinglyOE
wilfullyc1000
with (also mid) heart and hand (also hands)OE
fainc1175
lustilya1225
lief1297
yfaȝea1300
blethelyc1300
goodlya1375
blelyc1380
willingc1384
bainc1400
acceptably1479
bainlya1500
cheerfully1523
towardly1523
desirously1531
pronely?1532
fainly1535
wilningly1597
bongre1598
libentiously1606
volently1614
propensely1648
easily1649
with (a) good grace1650
unreluctantly1655
with the best will (in the world)1814
unhesitatingly1829
unqualifyingly1841
unloathly1844
happily1889
1889 C. S. Hill Let. 28 June in J. W. Ryckman Rep. Internat. Maritime Exhib. Boston (1890) 23 I will happily do all in my power to advance the work.
1904 H. H. Skinner Jiu-jitsu 40 I would happily relax my hold if you honorably promise to accompany me to my august superior whom I unworthily serve.
1946 E. Hodgins Mr. Blandings builds his Dream House xiii. 195 He would..happily replace the tubs at a per diem rate.
1967 Billboard 28 Oct. 116/4 He and president Paul Kotler will happily show you the firm's new development.
1978 J. Lees-Milne Diary 12 Feb. in Through Wood & Dale (2001) 231 When alone does not show off, but is diffident about his place in the world, as a writer; and is easy. I would happily go on an expedition with him.
2012 Independent 13 June 26/1 This way they'll create ‘demand’, the kind that'll guarantee a West End transfer, where people will happily pay above-average prices because it's a ‘must see’.
Phrases
happily ever after: in a state of happiness (in marriage, life, etc.) extending after the close of the action described (cf. happy ever after at happy adj. and n. Phrases 6); frequently in to live happily ever after; also hyphenated as adj. Similarly happily ever afterwards.In later use typically with allusion to use as a formulaic phrase at the end of a fairy tale, children's story, etc. (cf. quot. 1863), although in early use apparently not a conventionalized expression.
ΚΠ
1702 tr. G. Boccaccio Il Decamerone I. xx. 116 Paganino, hearing the News, married the Widow, and as they were very well acquainted, so they lived very lovingly, and happily, ever after.
1792 S. Gunning Anecd. Delborough Family V. lxvi. 205 You will both fall in love, play the fool, marry, and live happily ever afterwards.
1827 Port Folio 22 524/2 The recognised heroes and heroines, who appear as the representatives of good society, and who, at the end of the fifth act, marry and live very happily ever after.
1863 Cassell's Illustr. Family Paper 11 Mar. 103/3 The delighted monarch married him to the princess, and they all lived happily ever after.
1873 L. Troubridge Life amongst Troubridges (1966) viii. 67 The hero and heroine..marry comfortably off in the end and live happily ever after.
1938 Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Jan. 43/3 Thus a story which..ends on a happily-ever-after note.
2010 Independent 21 Oct. (Viewspaper section) 18/1 Arabella wasn't the only one who found that the upper-class gel's life plan—get married, provide an heir and a spare, live happily ever after—hadn't quite panned out.
Compounds
happily married adj.
ΚΠ
1842 Tait's Edinb. Mag. Aug. 526/2 At the close of all, one feels much less interest in the happily married pair than in the virgin lady of the land.
1933 Times 8 Aug. 7/2 Three happily married couples came to the ancient Essex village of Dunmow yesterday to stand trial for the famous Dunmow Flitch.
2008 G. Anderson Cityboy (2009) i. 41 I made appallingly clumsy moves on the pharmaceutical team's forty-two-year-old happily married secretary.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.a1375