lively

▪ I. lively, a.
    (ˈlaɪvlɪ)
    Forms: 1 l{iacu}flic, 3 livelich, 4 life-, liif-, livelich(e, -lyche, 4–6 lif(e-, lyf(e)ly, (6 lyvelycke), 6 live-, lyvelie, -lye, 4– lively. compar. 5 liveloker.
    [OE. l{iacu}flic, f. l{iacu}f life + -lic -ly¹ = OHG. lîblîch, ON. l{iacu}fligr.]
    † 1. Possessed of life; living, animate; = alive 1, live a. 1, living. Obs.

c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 358 He..wæs..his Fæder liflic onsæᵹednys on lambes wisan ᵹeoffrod. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas (1554) 124 Death assaileth euery liuely thing. 1521 Fisher Serm. agst. Luther Wks. (1876) 338 Thou arte christ the sone of the lyuely god. 1534 More On the Passion Wks. 1334/2 Many lyuelye members in the vnitye of Christes mysticall bodye. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 14 The Lodestone..draweth Iron to it... The common people therefore..haue iudged..y⊇ Iron liuely. 1582 Bentley Mon. Matrones ii. 14 It hath pleased thee to humble thy selfe..in making thy selfe a liuelie man. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iii. i. 105 Now I behold thy liuely body so? 1601 Holland Pliny I. 4 All liuely creatures else [sc. other than man] take care onely for their food. a 1628 Sir J. Beaumont Bosworth F. 106 The holy King then offered to his View A lively Tree, on which three Branches grew. 1628 T. Spencer Logick 207 He hath a bodie made lively by his soule. 1638 A. Read Chirurg. xxi. 155 The colour of a lively bone is of a whitish colour, mingled with a lively ruddiness.

fig. 1547 Homilies i. Faith ii. (1859) 39 There bee two kinds of faith; a dead and unfruitfull fayth; and a fayth lively.

    † b. In various transferred applications of L. vivus: = live a. 3, 5, living. Obs.

a 1000 Ags. Hymnarium (Surtees) 92 Wyll liflic. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 202 Ic eom se liflica hlaf, þe of heofenum astah. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 232, I am y⊇ lyuely breed that descended from heuen. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. v. 36 To thurst for that lively water. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 16 b, And as a dead coale, layed to a liuelie, kindleth. 1607 Norden Surv. Dial. iii. 85 And these springs I like well. For a house without liuely water is maymed. 1609 W. Biddulph in Lavender's Trav. (1612) 30 His house..being hewed out of the liuely rocke. c 1610 Women Saints 80 Where she was killed there sprong a lyuelie fountayne. 1632 Massinger & Field Fatal Dowry ii. i. D 2 See, the young sonne interd a liuely graue.

    † c. Of or pertaining to a living person. Of instruction, etc.: Delivered or imparted vivâ voce. (Cf. live a. 7, living.) Obs.

1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 13 They do beleue that it is as verily come from heauen as if they heard the liuely voice of God to speak therein. 1570 Dee Math. Pref. 5 They which are not liable to atteine to this without lively teaching. 1582 Bentley Mon. Matrones ii. 13 The liuelie voice of God, rebukinglie tooke me vp. 1611 Bible Acts vii. 38 This [sc. Moses] is he..who receiued the liuely oracles [λόγια ζῶντα], to giue vnto vs. 1709 Mandey Syst. Math., Arith. 10 The Solution..is learnt much easier by lively instruction, than by deaf and dumb Letters.

    † 2. Of or pertaining to life; necessary to life, vital. Obs.
    In this sense the spelling lifely, lyfely persisted longer than in the others, owing to association with the n.

a 1000 Ags. Hymnarium (Surtees) 80 Liflicum mid þinum..blode [L. vivido tuo sanguine]. c 1000 Basil's Hexameron xi. (1849) 18 God..ableow on his ansyne liflicne blæd. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints i. (Petrus) 484 Gyf he liffis, he ma spek, and ga, and oþir lifly taknis ma. 1382 Wyclif Wisd. xv. 11 That bleȝ in to hym a lifli spirit. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love Prol. (Skeat) l. 121 Utterly these thinges be no dremes ne iapes, to throwe to hogges, it is lyfelych meate for children of trouth. a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 3252 For verray cold, His lyfly myght he loren hadde at moost. 1528 Paynel Salerne's Regim. (1535) 36 a, Y⊇ lifely spirites that procede from the brayne to the other membres. 1530 Rastell Bk. Purgat. ii. ii, The soule is no nother thynge but a lyfely power. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 755 With a..maladie..so grievously taken, that his lively spirites began to faile. c 1570 Grindal Dial. in Foxe A. & M. (1583) II. 1390 Turkes, Iewes, and heathen be dead, because they lack y⊇ liuely foode of the soule. c 1592 Marlowe Jew of Malta iii. (1633) F 1 b, Oh that my sighs could turne to liuely breath. 1640 Dyke Worthy Commun. Ep. to Rdr., A branch..hath all lively sap and moisture..from the root and stocke.

fig. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 265 Spiritual swerdis and lyflyche word of oure God. 1542–5 Brinklow Lament. (1874) 79 The greate parte of these..Cytezens will not haue in their howses that lyuely worde of our soules. c 1570 Grindal Dial. in Foxe A. & M. (1583) II. 1388 So violently to tread downe the liuely worde of God.

    3. Of an image, picture, etc.: Life-like, animated, vivid. (In later use associated with 4 c.)

c 1320 Sir Tristr. 2845 So liifliche weren þai alle Ymages semed it nouȝt, To abide. 1568 Skinner tr. Montanus' Inquisition 3 b, But they draw his counterfaite as liuely as may be. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. ix. 2 Full lively is the semblaunt, though the substance dead. 1604 Dekker Kings' Entert. Wks. 1873 I. 292 The countenaunces of the Marchants being so lively that bargaines seeme to come from their lippes. 1631 Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 41 The liuely Statues and stately Monuments in Westminster Abbey. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 72 All the Candles were instantly put out, to yield a livelier Image of the occasion. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 416 ¶5 A Description often gives us more lively Ideas than the Sight of Things themselves. 1755 (title) The Expedition of Major General Braddock to Virginia... Being Extracts of Letters..Together With many little Incidents, giving A lively Idea of the Nature of the Country. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) I. 42 The person of Richard II. is still preserved in the most lively manner, in two different pictures. 1817 J. Scott Paris Revisit. (ed. 4) 163 The most lively pictures have been given of the hasty flights, the crowded roads [etc.]. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 384 Under the reign of Elizabeth, William Harrison gave a lively description of the plenty and comfort of the great hostelries.

    4. Full of life. a. Of persons (occas. of animals), their faculties and actions: Vigorous, energetic, active, brisk.

a 1225 Ancr. R. 6 Sum is ȝung & liuelich, & is neode þe bettere warde. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xii. (1495) 118 Mannes eeres meue leest..but to here they ben moost able and lyuely. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 237 Tho men whych kepyth reysonabill diette..bene more hole of body,.. more lyueloker [etc.]. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 158 b, Let vs syng..with a quycke spiryt, open mouth, and lyuely voyce. 1611 Bible Exod. i. 19 The Hebrew women..are liuely, and are deliuered ere the midwiues come in vnto them. c 1665 Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1846) 31 A truer or more lively valour there never was in any man. a 1761 Law Comf. Weary Pilgr. (1809) 17 A man..of lively parts and much candour. 1780 Cowper Let. 18 Mar., Wks. (1876) 42 Men of lively imaginations are not often remarkable for solidity of judgment. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 833 The strong attack subdued his lively powers. 1850 Scoresby Cheever's Whalem. Adv. v. (1859) 71 The mate, if lively, is soon aloft. 1883 Gilmour Mongols xxxii. 368 Goods are transported on carts drawn by lively horses. 1893 Law Times XCV. 268/2 A lively discussion is expected.

    b. Of feelings, impressions, sensations, memory: Vivid, intense, strong.

1535 Coverdale 1 Pet. i. 3 Blessed be God..which..hath begotten vs agayne vnto a lyuely hope by the resurreccion of Iesus Christ. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII, 4 b, That in the same cytie, the memory of kyng Richard his mortall enemy was yet recent and lyvely. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 498 But now I dy'de, and death was liuely ioy. 1660 Jer. Taylor Worthy Commun. ii. ii. 131 If we..pray that we may have lively relish and appetite to the mysteries, it may be well in time. 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. IV. ix. 297 However lively the father's affliction might be. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, iii. Wks. 1813 V. 331 The remembrance of their ancient rivalship and hostilities was still lively. 1788 V. Knox Winter Even. III. vii. ii. 11 They are guided too implicitly by their lively sensations. 1816 T. L. Peacock Headlong Hall xi, In the habit of..anticipating with the most lively satisfaction. 1821 Craig Lect. Drawing i. 55 Those impressions are the most lively which are conveyed to the mind in the shortest space of time. 1823 F. Clissold Ascent Mt. Blanc 17 The state of the weather excited the liveliest hopes of success. 1859 Mill Liberty ii. 33 The clearer perception and livelier impression of truth. 1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. i. 44 An intimate and lively consciousness of the truth of what one is saying. 1873 Hamerton Intell. Life vii. vii. (1875) 261 Taking a lively interest in the small events around them. 1876 Grote Eth. Fragm. iv. 101 A source of the liveliest fear. 1895 Zangwill Master ii. viii. 220 ‘My dear young ―’, she began, in accents of lively affection.

    c. Of evidence, illustrations, expressions: Vivid or forcible in effect, convincing, striking, telling.

1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. v. 343 They shew the Indians their blind errors, by lively and plaine reasons. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. iii. §49 He could not give a more lively and demonstrable evidence. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 53 A hint of this, I will give you in a lively example. 1713 Steele Englishman No. 41. 265 Example is the liveliest Way of Instruction. 1870 Howson Metaph. St. Paul iii. 149 A more copious and lively instance of the same kind of illustration. 1875 Whitney Life Lang. vii. 114 A term becomes..too directly significant, and we have to devise a new one, less lively.

    d. Of physical processes; Active, vigorous, brisk. Of liquor: Brisk, sparkling; opposed to flat. Of air: Fresh, invigorating.

1615 Markham Eng. House-w. 123 It [beer] may bee drunke at a fortnight's age and will last as long and liuely. 1742 Lond. & Country Brewer i. (ed. 4) 66 Its heavy Parts will..keep it mellow and lively to the last. 1844 Kinglake Eöthen xvii. (1878) 217 The air..is much cooler and more lively. 1854 Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 320 Producing a greater amount of heat and a more lively combustion. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad lxii, Oh many a peer of England brews Livelier liquor than the Muse.

    e. Of a landscape, etc.: Full of bright and interesting objects. Of a narrative, etc.: Full of action and incident.

1697 Dryden Virgil, Life (1721) I. 68 The liveliest Episode in the whole æneis. 1756 Burke Subl. & B. ii. v Which he has represented in the colours of..bold and lively poetry. 1839 J. Hodgson in J. Raine Mem. (1858) II. 385 To see..the trees bourgeoning in our lively woods. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge xx, It was the liveliest room in the building. 1851 Carlyle Sterling ii. vii. (1872) 147 The view from the top is..remarkably lively and satisfactory. 1883 Gilmour Mongols xxiv. 295 A valley lively with flocks, herds, tents [etc.]. 1887 I. R. Lady's Ranch Life in Montana 84 I've been having a pretty lively week of it.

    f. In humorously euphemistic use.

1772 Foote Nabob i. Wks. 1799 II. 290 My Lady's temper's apt to be lively now and then. 1883 Manch. Guard. 15 Oct. 5/2 The police had a lively time of it in bundling out the peace-breakers. 1891 Pall Mall G. 21 Nov. 2/2 Altogether things are getting lively. 1892 Law Times XCII. 197/2 The Press is making things lively for Her Majesty's judges.

    † g. humorously. Of cheese: Teeming with life.

1581 Mulcaster Positions xxxix. (1887) 194 Liuely cheese is lusty cheare.

    5. Of colour, light, etc.: Vivid, brilliant, fresh.

c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. i. 2 (Camb. MS.), I sawh..a womman..with a lyfly coloure. 1552 Elyot Dict. s.v. Color, Floridi colores, liuely colours. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1589 Her liuelie colour kil'd with deadlie cares. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. xv. 251 These oisters within are of the colour of heaven, very lively. 1658 Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1013 The green Scarabee..is of a lively emerald colour. 1711 Pope Temp. Fame 252 Bright azure rays from lively sapphyrs stream. a 1763 Shenstone Elegies vii. 19 And livelier far than Tyrian seem'd his vest, That with the glowing purple ting'd the ground. 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. xiv, And islands that, empurpled bright, Floated amid the livelier light. 1819 G. Samouelle Entomol. Comp. 344 Griseus, lively light gray. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 136 The turf is of livelier hue than elsewhere. 1870 Rock Text. Fabr. i. 1 In gold and lively colours.

    6. Gay, sprightly, vivacious.

1580 Churchyard (title) A light Bondell of liuly discourses called Churchyardes Charge. 1741 Middleton Cicero I. vi. 488 A manner so lively and entertaining. 1756 J. Warton Ess. Pope (1782) I. ii. 22 Voltaire, in the first volume of his entertaining and lively Essay on General History. 1778 F. Burney Evelina (1791) II. xxxi. 191 Never did I see him more lively or more agreeable. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxx. III. 187 He had compared, in a lively epigram, the opposite characters of two Prætorian præfects of Italy. 1790 Cowper Let. 7 July Wks. (1876) 334 The French..like all lively folks are extreme in every thing. 1798 Ferriar Illustr. Sterne ii. 31 Sterne even condescended to adopt some of those lively extravagancies. 1838 Lytton Alice 131 But your manner is livelier and younger. 1868 C. M. Yonge Cameos I. xvi. 124 He was lively in conversation. 1885 Pall Mall Budget 19 June 31/1 His account of the America is lively reading and will appear very seasonably.

    7. Naut. Of a vessel: Capable of rising lightly to the sea.

1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. 498 We found our Vessel lively enough with that small sail which was then aboard. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §170 To render them very floaty and lively in a rough hollow sea. 1897 Daily News 11 Dec. 8/3 In the sense, therefore, that she rides the waves instead of labouring through them, the Cambria might be described as a lively ship.

    8. quasi-n. colloq.

1889 Clark Russell Marooned (1890) 171 ‘Time from me, my livelies!’ cried Mole.

    9. Comb., as lively-foliaged, lively-looking adjs.

1809 Malkin Gil Blas vii. ix. (Rtldg.) 3 He drew from his pocket a phial full of a lively-looking red liquor. 1836 Macgillivray tr. Humboldt's Trav. xxiv. 362 Lively-foliaged poplars generally shadowed their extremities.

▪ II. lively, adv. Now rare.
    (ˈlaɪvlɪ)
    Forms: 1 l{iacu}fl{iacu}ce, 4 lyfly, 4–6 lifly, (5 liyfly, lyfely), 5–6 lyvely, (5 lievlie, lyvele), 6 livelie, 8 Sc. lyflie, 6– lively.
    [OE. l{iacu}fl{iacu}ce, f. l{iacu}f life + -l{iacu}ce -ly².]
    † 1. (OE. only.) So as to impart life.

c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 244 He ᵹenam ða hlaf and hine liflice ᵹehalᵹode.

    † 2. As a living person or thing. Obs.

1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ii. xviii. (1495) 44 Though an angel take a body for euery nedefull doyng he may take it Not lyfly, neyther gyuyth therto lyfe. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 38 A dainty flowre..Which in that cloth was wrought, as if it lively grew.

    3. With animation, actively, briskly, nimbly, vigorously.

c 1400 Destr. Troy 2997 There light þai full lyfely, lept into bote. c 1450 Merlin 355 He lept vp on foote as lifly as he hadde noon harme ne dissese. ? a 1500 Mankind (Brandl) 41/73 Leppe a-bout lyuely, þou art a wyght man. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius R viij, Beinge .Lxx. yeares of age, [he] executed the office of a capitaine as lively as though he had bene younge in yeares. 1613 Hayward Norm. Kings, Will. I, 9 The Normans did liuely charge vpon them in head. 1643 Cromwell Let. 6 Aug. in A. Kingston East Angl. & Civ. War (1897) 121 You must act lively; do it without distraction. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. 4 If you divide the Bee..you shall..see the heart beat most lively. 1699 Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1713) 276/2 It will..make the Medicine work more lively and briskly. 1883 G. H. Boughton in Harper's Mag. Feb. 402/2 We found that it was going on a little livelier than ever.

    † b. Feelingly; (touched) to the quick. Obs.

1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 79/1 The examples..ought to make vs feele it liuely, and to the quicke. 1625 Gonsalvio's Sp. Inquis. 197 Making him..liuely to lament his owne filthinesse and abomination. 1651 tr. De-las-Coveras' Don Fenise 33 Don Louis..was so lively touched with compassion..that [etc.]. 1653 Nissena 86 She was so lively imprest with what she had heard. a 1758 Ramsay Some of the Contents vii, How lyflie he and amorous Stuart sing!

    † c. Promptly; at once; = belively. Obs.

c 1400 Destr. Troy 372 [He] led hom furthe lyuely into a large halle. Ibid. 4355 And so the ledis of the lond lyuely hym cald. Ibid. 5447 Out of Lyce come lyuele þe lege kyng Glaucon.

    4. In a life-like manner; vividly, ‘to the life’. Very frequent in the 17th century. ? Obs.

c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1229 Wel koude he peynten lifly that it wroghte. 1559 Bp. Scot in Strype Ann. Ref. I. App. vii. 18 Who so redith the third chapter of the second epistle of St. Paul to Tymothie, may see them there lively described. 1598 F. Meres Palladis Tamia 287 Apelles painted a Mare and Dogge so liuelie, that Horses and Dogges passing by woulde neigh and barke at them. 1604 Dekker Kings' Entert. Wks. 1873 I. 293 In a large Table..is their fishing and shipping lively and sweetely set downe. 1615 T. Adams Spiritual Navig. 6 This glasse lively represents to us ourselves and our Saviour. 1631 Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 14 The funeralls of Misenus, most liuely thus expressed. 1659 Evelyn Diary (1827) II. 143 A sheete of paper, on which was very liuely painted ye thing in miniature. 1682 H. More Annot. Glanvill's Lux O. 30 Meeting with nothing..that lively resembles these things in our former state. 1687 Burnet Trav. i. (1750) 39 The Image also seemed to shed tears; and a Painter had drawn those on her Face so lively, that the People were deceived by it. 1726 Life of Penn in Wks. I. 28 What Game such Persons play at, may be lively read in the attempts of Dionysius, &c. 1775 S. J. Pratt Liberal Opin. lxx. (1783) III. 22 He [Draper] painted himself..much livelier..than it was in the power of any other person to depict him.

    † b. Clearly, plainly. Obs.

1548 Udall Erasm. Par. Pref. 17 And liuely to know the ungodly maligners. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 171 She seemed..most liuely to beholde..with hir eie. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 144 The wisedome of a prince is not livelier discerned, then [etc.]. 1625 Gill Sacr. Philos. i. 107 The shape of a man cannot bee more lively seene in a looking glasse, than [etc.]. 1634 Canne Necess. Separ. (1849) 14 The Pope's pontifical, wherein he showeth himself to be Antichrist most lively. 1673 Penn The Chr. a Quaker v. 533 It had been utterly impossible for divers weighty Things..to have been known, and said so lively, had they not been seen by the Light.

    † 5. Of a vessel: (Floating) in a lively manner. (Cf. lively a. 7.) Obs.

1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §171 Remarkably full in their bows; which..enabled them to float much more lively upon the surface.

    6. Comb., as lively-expressed; lively-daring, lively-shining, lively-skipping, lively-speaking, lively-thriving adjs.

1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxii. 962 The *liuely daring French.

1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 2 Gods will, first of all vttered in a *liuely expressed voice by the mouth of Christ.

1727–46 Thomson Summer 918 The *lively-shining leopard, speckled o'er With many a spot.

1612 Drayton Poly-olb. v. 123 The *liuelie skipping Brane along with Gwethrick goes.

1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 112 Giving as ready obedience..as they can to any *lively speaking prince of the world.

1618 W. Lawson New Orch. & Gard. (1623) 32 You shall haue for one *liuely thriuing tree, foure..euill thriuing, rotten and dying trees.

Oxford English Dictionary