lovesomelyadv.
/ˈlʌvs(ə)mli/, U.S. /ˈləvsəmli/ rare after 16th cent.
In a lovesome manner; esp.(in early use) lovingly, affectionately; kindly. See lovesome adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > [adverb]
lovelyeOE
lovesomelyOE
dearlyc1275
cherelya1375
loveredlyc1390
lovelilya1400
lovinglyc1425
flirtatiously1863
OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Cambr. Univ. Libr.) iii. xxi. 248 Ða sende Uitalianus se papa Oswio Seaxna cyninge lufsumlice ærendgewrit.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1663 Nohht ne maȝȝ ben don. All mahhtiȝ godd to cweme But iff itt be wiþþ witt. & skill. & luffsummlike forþedd.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Royal) 88 (MED) [He] seide hire lufsumliche þet ne schulde ha nane wunne lihtliche wilnin þet he [read ha] ne schulde welden.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 7989 (MED) Þan com til him an angel clere..And lufsumli [a1400 Fairf. louesumly] to dauid spac.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 315 Thair capitane Tretit thame sa lusumly [1489 Adv. luflely].
c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica v. 365 This infaunte, so pratyly lyenge & lufsomly laughynge in his swadelynge bondes.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 558 His leif at the Coilȝear He tuke lufesumly.
1854 H. F. Chorley Mod. Ger. Music II. 122 You have hardly admired Grein, which stands lovesomely at a bend of the river.
1869 T. C. Irwin Irish Poems & Legends 73 Watch the knights..and see Fairest ladies lovesomely Smiling on their plumed advances.
1992 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 11 July 6 Lovesomely as any garden may grow, other people's gardens can be even more so.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adv.OE