† rulyadj.1
Obsolete.
Expressive of pain or sorrow; woeful; wretched, pitiful.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > compassion > quality of exciting pity > [adjective]
armlyeOE
unseelyOE
rulyOE
ruefulc1225
ruthfulc1225
sorryc1225
piteousc1300
poorc1300
ruthlyc1300
pietousa1393
pitifulc1450
lamentablec1460
miserable?a1475
pitiablec1475
execrable1490
plainful1555
tristsum1567
passionatea1586
touchinga1586
pathetic1591
melting1593
remorseful?1615
compassionate1630
compassionable1635
ruesome1833
po'1866
little-boy-lost1957
OE Paris Psalter (1932) cviii. 9 Weorðan his agene bearn ealle steopcild and his wif wyrðe wydewe hreowlic.
OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.iv) anno 1057 Wala, þæt wæs hreowlic sið & hearmlic eallre þissere þeode, þæt he swa raðe his lif geendade.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1086 Reowlic þing he dyde, & reowlicor him gelamp.
a1200 (?OE) MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 147 (MED) Fro wureld wele to lichamliche wowe..on þis reuliche wei hie weren walkinde forte þat hie comen to þe lichamliche deaðe.
a1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 36 (MED) Tuei þeues þer verrin a-hon & þe oþer him beid on bon Wid rem & reuly cry.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1162 Abraham up on morgen stod, Wið reuli lote and frigti mod.
a1350 Life St. Alexius (Laud) l. 447 in F. J. Furnivall Adam Davy's 5 Dreams (1878) 66 (MED) He..made reuly chere, he rof his brest, he drou his her wiþ duelful cry.
a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 730 (MED) Alle hys flessh þan þou teryst whan þou falsly by hym swerest..So rulyche makyst þou hym to be.
c1450 (c1400) Sowdon of Babylon (1881) 1624 (MED) Sires, what be ye That make here this ruly moone.
c1460 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 234 Wrappid in a selure as a ful rewli wrecche.
c1500 Sir Orfeo (Ashm.) (1966) l. 132 (MED) When j gan my-selue a-wake, Ruly chere j gan to make.
1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 18 I douht not but I shal finde your wurship..favorable and gud unto me in this ruli and miserable case.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
rulyadj.2
/ˈruːli/, U.S. /ˈruli/ 1. Observant of order, rule, or discipline; law-abiding; well-behaved. Also figurative. Cf. unruly adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > obedience > [adjective] > orderly
rulyc1443
orderly1566
c1443 [implied in: R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 276 (MED) If we kepen þese vij next bifore goyng treuþis..toward fleischly godis we þanne liven reulily. (at rulily adv.)].
a1450 York Plays (1885) 221 (MED) Why are ȝe barely þus brathe? Bees rewly, and ray fourth your reasoune.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Fox, Wolf, & Husbandman l. 2252 in Poems (1981) 85 The oxin waxit mair reulie at the last.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 3888 Neuer Troy no tyme soche a tulke bred So graithe ne so good ne of so gret myght, Ruly & rightwise.
1596 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) ix. xlvi. 218 It was obiected, though vntruely, That they weare ydle, Hell lackt Guests, and men on Earth waxt ruly.
?1649 H. Hammond Of Reasonableness Christian Relig. iii. 90 The beleif of those Christian Truths, which others of more ruly tempers..did most readily embrace and assent to.
1682 A. Mullen Let. 2 Dec. in R. Boyle Corr. (2001) V. 363 I have knowne people recover by this method in 12 or 14 dayes, if especially they were ruley.
1837 B. Disraeli Venetia I. 159 ‘Soldiers ruly;..must be obeyed.’ ‘Yes, your worship; quite ruly.’
1892 Black & White 6 Aug. 155/1 Students are an important element, and not always a ruly one, in Edinburgh life.
1902 R. E. Hughes Making of Citizens vii. 186 The German boy sucks in order and obedience with his mother's milk. It is his nature to be ruly, and of the English boy not to be.
1952 D. Thomas Coll. Poems 165 And truly he Flows to the strand of flowers like the dew's ruly sea.
1985 W. Sheed Frank & Maisie vii. 158 Order collapsed at the sight of his face. The ruliest boys would howl and roll their eyes till Thomas himself was reduced to giggles.
1991 Independent 28 Nov. 18/5 The same gentlemen will tell him that continuous assessment by coursework favours girls, who are more ruly than boys.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > [adjective]
rulerc1390
reverent1398
ruly?c1450
ecclesiasticala1538
ministerial1561
clerical1592
ecclesiastic1603
cleric1623
reverend1625
clergical1632
clergya1635
hieratical1656
churchmanlike1786
shovel-hatted1832
churchmanly1833
hieratic1866
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) 4606 (MED) Some of þaim sone were boune, Reuly men of religioune, forthe with þaim to fare.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† rulyadv.
Obsolete.
1. In a sorrowful manner; pitifully, wretchedly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > compassion > [adverb]
rulyeOE
piteouslyc1390
pitifullya1400
pietously1474
ruthfullya1560
compassionately1611
pityingly1794
the mind > emotion > compassion > quality of exciting pity > [adverb]
rulyeOE
ruefullyc1225
ruthfullyc1225
piteouslyc1300
miserably?a1425
piteousc1425
pitifullyc1450
pietously1474
touchingly?1507
lamentably1585
pitiful1600
pitiedly1661
meltingly1680
pitiably1688
pathetic1724
pathetically1740
eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iii. vii. 65 Þonne gemænað ge hit to þæm wyrrestan tidum & magon hie swa hreowlice wepan swa ge magon þara oþra bliþelice hlihhan.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Hatton 115) xxi. 200 Þa gehyrde ic þæt þa deoflu gelæddon fif manna sawla hreowlice gnornigende and grimetende into þam sweartum fyre.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 43 (MED) Summe þer reowliche gneȝeð his aȝene tunge.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13724 Þer weoren Romleoden reouliche [c1300 Otho rouliche] iladde.
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) 788 (MED) Hir moder was ded acurssedliche And hir fader starf reuliche.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 86 (MED) Reuliche gan he rore & rente al his hide.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 24115 Mi sun þat hang apon þe croice, Reuli [Coll. Phys. Rewlik] on me be-heild.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 12530 (MED) For he was hurt ful selli sare, Reuli can he cri and rare.
c1450 Erthe upon Erthe (Lamb.) (1911) 15 (MED) Now gooþ erþe upon erþe, ruli raggid and rent.
a1500 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 15th Cent. (1939) 18 Now breke hert, I the pray, this cors lith so rulye.
a1529 J. Skelton Speke Parrot in Certayne Bks. (?1545) sig. A.iiii Sion is in sadnes, Rachell ruly doth loke.
1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 50v No tempest good Iulie, Least corne lookes rulie.
2. Grievously, harshly.
ΚΠ
OE Wulfstan Sermo ad Anglos (Corpus Cambr. 419) (1957) 256 Earme men [syndon] beswicene & hreowlice besyrwde, ge æt freme ge æt fostre, ge æt feo ge æt feore, ealles to gelome.
a1200 (?OE) MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 205 (MED) He..on his side was mid spere istungen, and his holi lichame to-sprad and to-tuht, and for ure gulten reuliche atoȝen.
a1300 Vision St. Paul (Jesus Oxf.) l. 192 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 152 (MED) Four deofle heom stondeþ bi; Þat pyneþ heom ful revly.
1372 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 77 (MED) Sche sau hire ferli fode, His blisful bodi..Wol reuli rent on þe rode.
a1400 (c1300) Northern Homily: Knight who did Penance among Worms (Coll. Phys.) in Middle Eng. Dict. at Reuli Wormes..sal thaim reuli rif & rend In helle pin.
?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 59 (MED) God wyll of a maydyn be born, And..Ruly on rode be rent and torn.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
adj.1OE
adj.2c1443adv.eOE