rightly, adv.
(ˈraɪtlɪ)
Forms: 1–3 rihtlice (1 ryht-, reht-), 2 richtlice, 3 ri(c)htliche, 5 ryghtlyche; 1 rihtlic, re(c)htlic, 4 riȝtlich; 4–5 riȝtli (4 riȝtly, 5 ritli), 4 rightli; 4, 6 ryghtely, 6 Sc. rychtly, richtlie, 7 rightlie; 4– rightly.
[OE. reht-, riht-, ryhtl{iacu}ce, = MDu. rechtelike (Du. rechtelijk), MLG. rechtliken, etc., G. rechtlich, ON. rétt(i)liga (Sw. rätteligen): see right a. and -ly2.]
1. In accordance with equity or moral rectitude; justly, fairly, uprightly; in conformity with right conduct or procedure.
| 805 Charter in O.E. Texts 442 Ðæt wiorð ᵹedæle [he] fore hiora gastas suæ ælmeslice & suæ rehtlice suæ he him seolfa..ᵹeleornie. c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxii. 172 Beoð simle ᵹearwe..to forᵹifonne ælcum ðara þe eow ryhtlice bidde. 971 Blickl. Hom. 75 Þæt is þonne, þæt we sceolan god weorc wyricean, & rihtlice libban. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 322 Ᵹe manna bearn, demað rihtlice. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1083, Ða munecas..beadon hine þæt he sceolde healdan hi rihtlice. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 9 Ure lif we ledeð richtliche togenes ure louerd ihesu crist, ȝif we forbereð al þat, þat him is unqueme. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 1433 Þo men þat loue to do ryghtely..shal passe þere sauely Into þat blesful cuntre. c 1375 Cursor M. 21480 (Fairf.), Þe lauedi..ho bad vs riȝtli dome to giue. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform. vi. 104 Godly men..Quha..can Judge the people rude, And rychtly reule ouer thame. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage iii. iv. (1614) 251 Euery one whosoeuer liueth rightly..shall vndoubtedly obtaine Diuine fauour. 1706 E. Ward Hud. Rediv. (1710) 20 To rightly Judge without the Laws, The Person, or his doubtful Cause. 1741 in Col. Rec. Pennsylv. IV. 488 Until such prohibited Goods are rightly and lawfully proceeded against. 1829 D'Israeli in Croker Papers 28 Jan., Many papers..which rightly should have been deposited at the State-paper Office. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets vii. 227 Make not fine speeches, but be rightly minded! 1874 Motley Barneveld II. xix. 283 His moral constitution made him incapable of..acting rightly on any vital subject. |
| Comb. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 326 Calculating their systems for a few contemplative, rightly-disposed persons. |
2. Properly; in the right or proper manner.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xviii. 9 Rehtwisnisse dryhtnes rehtlice [L. recte] blissiende heortan. c 900 tr. Baeda's Hist. iv. ii. (1890) 260 Þa he Ceddan biscop mid wordum preade, þæt he rihtlice ᵹehalᵹad ne wære. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark vii. 35 And sona..un-bunden wæs ᵹebend tungæs his & spreccend wæs rehtlice. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 27 Þe godfrihte..luueð rihtliche alle liuiende men, and ben her⁓sume alle godes hese. a 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1104 Na man may serve rightly Twa lordes to-gedir, þat er contrary. 1382 Wyclif Mark vii. 35 Anon..the bond of his tunge is unbounden, and he spak riȝtly. |
| a 1586 Sidney Ps. ii, They that in him their only trust do rest, O, they be rightly blest! 1611 Cotgr., Legitime, legitimate..; rightly born, truly begot. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows iii. §36. 246 They who rightly and duly subject themselves, procure good to themselves. Ibid. iv. §12. 390 This is rightly and truly to be content with things present. a 1653 Binning Serm. (1845) 53 If thy soul rightly discover God, it cannot but abase thee. |
3. a. In accordance with truth or fact; correctly, exactly, accurately,
† precisely.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxi. 156 Swiðe ryhtlice hit wæs awriten æfter ðæm nietenum ðæt ða hearᵹas wæron atifrede. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke x. 28 And cuoeð him, ‘Rehtlice ðu ᵹeond-suaredes; ðis do þætte ðu ᵹelifiᵹe’. c 1055 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 298 Oðra þinga þe man mæᵹ rihtlice todælan onfeower. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1107, Ðis wæs rihtlice ymbe vii. ᵹear þæs þe se cyng Henri cynedomes onfeng. a 1300 Cursor M. 42 Þis fruit bitakens alle our dedis, Both gode and ille qua rightly redis. c 1380 Antecrist in Todd Three Treat. Wyclif (1851) 116 Wher it is not riȝtly understonden what is to be coveiten or desiren, or what is to be fled. a 1425 Cursor M. 7122 (Trin.), He het þe men to ȝyue hem mede If þei coude it riȝtly rede. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 1 Tim. 5 A perfite syncere loue telleth a great deale ryghtelyer, what is to be doen, than any constitucions. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xxxix. (1887) 202 The generall skill to iudge..most things rightly. 1611 Bible Gen. xxvii. 36 Is not he rightly named Iacob? 1632 Milton Penseroso 170 Where I may sit and rightly spell Of every Star that Heav'n doth shew. 1675 Baxter Cath. Theol. ii. x. 213 The determining which of you doth rightliest expound the Scripture is not my business. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 265 ¶1 One of the Fathers, if I am rightly informed, has defined a Woman [etc.]. 1754 Edwards Freed. Will i. ii. (1762) 12 Whether I have been so happy, as rightly to explain the Thing wherein consists the Strength of Motives or not. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. x. iii. (1865) III. 241 He cannot see rightly, and shoots always with help of an opera glass. 1875 Freeman in W. R. W. Stephens Life (1895) II. 93 If I read your question rightly. |
| Comb. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 511 A rightly-aimed intention will prove a guidance both in the manner and measure of our religious duties. 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting 177 This rightly-named thirst land. |
b. Properly or correctly speaking.
| 1785 Burns 2nd Ep. J. Lapraik 39 I've begun to scrawl, but whether In rhyme, or prose,..Or some hotch-potch that's rightly neither, Let time mak proof. |
c. With good reason; justifiably.
| 1883 Manch. Guard. 3 Nov. 7/3 We rightly judge of people by the company they keep. |
d. Phr.
I don't rightly know, expressing reserve: ‘I am not sure.’
dial. or
colloq.| 1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. III. iii. 48, I don't rightly know, sir. 1954 R. P. Bissell High Water viii. 93, I spose so, but I don't rightly know. |
† 4. Directly, straightly.
Obs.| c 1350 Will. Palerne 232 Riȝtly þenne þemperour wendes him euene tille. 1548 Elyot, Directè,..an aduerbe signifyinge rightly or streightly. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 25 The zodiack goeth ouerthwarte them, and not rightly as th' equinoctiall and the right Horizont doth. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. ii. 18 Like perspectiues, which rightly gaz'd vpon Shew nothing but confusion, ey'd awry, Distinguish forme. 1635 Swan Spec. M. (1670) 293 The Optick Masters confess and prove, that the forms of the Stars are comprehended of the sight reflectly, and not rightly. |
† 5. At right angles; so as to form a right angle.
Obs. rare.
| 1594 Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. (1636) 272 There be also certain Sphericall..Angels..which do crosse one another in some point, either rightly or obliquely: if rightly, then they make right angles. |