truly, adv. (n.)
(ˈtruːlɪ)
Forms: 1 tréowl{iacu}ce, 3 treo-, treou-, trouliche, 3–6 treu-, trew-, etc., -lich(e, -ly, etc. (see true a. and -ly2), 5 treoly, 5–6 trulye, 5–8 truely, 6–7 trulie, (7 trooly), 4– truly.
[OE. tréowl{iacu}ce, ME. treulich, etc., f. tréow, treu, true: see -ly2.]
In a true manner (in various senses of the adj.).
1. a. Faithfully, loyally, constantly, with steadfast allegiance. arch.
| a 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xi. 6 [xii. 5] Ic do swyðe treowlice ymb hy. c 1205 Lay. 20000 Alle heo sworen þene að, Trouliche [c 1275 Treuliche] þat heo wolden Mid Arðure halden. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2070 Conan..bihet him to serui triweliche. a 1300 Cursor M. 81 (Cott.) Qua truly [v.rr. treuli, trewely] loues þis lemman, Þis es þe loue bes neuer gan. 13.. Ibid. 1062 (Gött.) Rightwis [Abel] was, and goddes freind, And treuli gaf he him his tend. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 152 Hit were better þat lewid men diden to lordes þis offis..for better and lighter and treulier schulde hit be done. c 1400 Brut ccxli. 350 Alle þe conauntes..schulde be trewly kept. 1563 Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 121 The haill Kirk of God, professing trewlie Christ Iesus. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iii. v. 110. 1852 M. Arnold Second Best 24 An impulse..To the words, ‘Hope, Light, Persistence’, Strongly sets and truly burns. |
† b. With steadfast faith or assurance; confidently. In quot. c 1275, ? so as to be safe or trustworthy; securely (cf. true a. 1 d). Obs.
| c 1275 Lay. 11898 And wel he makede his castles Treuliche [c 1205 Treowe] and faste. c 1325 Spec. Gy Warw. 208 Þu shalt..bileue also And treuliche in þin herte do, Þat god had neuere biginning Ne neuere shal haue ending. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints i. (Petrus) 485 Gyf he liffis, he ma spek, and ga,..And gyf he na may, trewis trewly Þat ȝe se is all fantassy. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV 202 b, Trustynge truely that all thynges were at a good poynt. |
† 2. Honestly, honourably, uprightly. Obs.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 155, 156 Bote ȝe liuen trewely and eke loue þe pore, And such good as God sent Treweliche parten. 1453 Dunfermline Regr. (Bann. Cl.) 340 To gife and to pay lelly and treuly but fraude or gille a hundreth pundis. 1530 Palsgr. 358, I holde with them that deale trewly. 1558 in Foxe A. & M. (1570) 2249/2, I am a poore woman and do liue by my hands, gettyng a peny truly. |
3. In accordance with the fact; truthfully; correctly (in reference to a statement).
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 2712 Trewely to swere hys oþe. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 329 By that well hinges a bacyne..With a cheyne, trewly to tell. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 228 b, The people thus instructed (or as I may trulier speake) deceiued. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado i. i. 180 Tell me truely how thou lik'st her. Ibid. iv. i. 76 Bid her answer truly. 1607 ― Cor. v. iv. 27. a 1718 Penn Truth Rescued ii. Wks. 1726 I. 494 [Words] truliest apply'd to Himself. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xvii, An elegy that may truly be called tragical. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 88 Unable to decide which of you speaks truly. |
4. a. In accordance with a rule or standard; exactly, accurately, precisely, correctly.
| 1375 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 138/2 Fro Moyses to Dauid kyng Fyue hondred & two [years],..To kounten riȝt trewely. 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. e v, Trulier they shal be blasit on this wyse. 1535 Joye Apol. Tindale (Arb.) 20 Correcking a false Copie..that thei mought be the trwelyer printed agen. 1696 Whiston Th. Earth ii. (1722) 131 The little Planets about Jupiter move in Orbits truly Circular. 1787 Best Angling (ed. 2) 10 A long rod is..of more use..provided it is truly made. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 593/2 To make the spindle run truly. |
b. Rightly, justly, duly; as it ought to be, properly; often in phrase well and truly; now also for colloq. emphasis: decisively, ‘good and proper’ (good adv. d).
| 1417 York Memo. Bk. (Surtees) I. 182 Sufficiant recorde that he es wele and lely and treuly partyd fra thiens whare he come fra. 1458 J. Jernyngan Let. 1 June in N. Davis Paston Lett. (1976) II. 341 There was not so gret a batayle vpon þe se þis xl wyntyr; and for sothe we were wele and trewly bette. 1477 in N. & Q. (1975) July 290/2 The forme of this present lettre whiche ben wel and truly correct. 1521 B. Anslay tr. C. de Pisani's Bk. Cyte of Ladyes i. xiii, He shall rewarde them that well and truely maynteyneth hym. 1531 Tindale Exp. 1 John ii. (1537) 29 Wyl ye therfore worship saintes truely? 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. vii. (S.T.S.) II. 47 Quhen he saw [them]..as tha war worthie, treulie tormented. a 1647 Habington Surv. Worc. in Worcs. Hist. Soc. Proc. III. 535 After whose death it [some land] returned truely to the monastery. 1760 Sterne Tr. Shandy I. xv. 82 The said intended marriage..to be well and truly solemnized and consummated. 1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps Introd. 4 Every action..is capable of a peculiar dignity..which we sometimes express by saying that it is truly done (as a line or tone is true). 1895 Funk's Standard Dict. s.v. well adv., Well and truly (Law), conformably to duty; heedfully; used in oaths and affirmations. 1935 Discovery Oct. 314/1 The great principle is laid well and truly down—not to attempt to hurry. 1948 G. V. Galwey Lift & Drop iv. 72, I am—well and truly married. 1971 D. Potter Brit. Eliz. Stamps iii. 41 As soon as the cup was well and truly won by England. 1973 Guardian 16 Feb. 13/8 British Brussels is well and truly split on the issue of the TUC's participation in Europe. |
c. Rightfully, legitimately. Obs. or merged in 5.
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. ii. 26 To giue Obedience, where 'tis truly ow'd. 1611 ― Wint. T. iii. ii. 135 His innocent Babe truly begotten. |
d. In accordance with nature, naturally.
| 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. iv. 55 If you will see a pageant truely plaid. 1884 Church Bacon ix. 219 A sketch so truly and forcibly drawn. |
e. Without cross-breeding; purely; also, without variation from the ancestral type.
| 1854 Poultry Chron. II. 63 Very fine truly-bred birds. 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. i. (1866) 17 The greyhound, bloodhound, [etc.] propagate their kind truly. |
5. a. Genuinely, really, actually, in fact, in reality; sincerely, unfeignedly.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 5 Men þat trewly dispisen synne. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. v. iv. 76, I doe as truely suffer, As ere I did commit. 1682 Norris Hierocles 35 So may we learn to know what we ourselves truly are. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 79 ¶9 A Mind truly virtuous. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem. (1862) III. 236 The view that they were truly alcohol radicles. 1874 Motley Barneveld II. xviii. 276 Nothing could be more truly respectable. 1908 Miss Fowler Betw. Trent & Ancholme 231 She truly believed..that he [her donkey] liked the thistles best. |
b. Used to emphasize a statement (sometimes as a mere expletive): Indeed, forsooth, verily.
| c 1205 Lay. 20720 Arður [etc.] þene wude al bileien..Treo uppen oðer Treoliche faste. c 1300 Cursor M. 23952 (Edin.) Of hir trewlik es al mi tale. a 1400–50 Alexander 2094 ‘Bot treuly, ser’, quod þe duke, ‘gret tresore me thinke At Alexander þe athill’. c 1470 Henry Wallace iii. 268 Ane awfull chyftane trewly he is ane. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. i. 322 Truely I will not goe first: truely-la: I will not doe you that wrong. 1641 Brome Jov. Crew iii. Wks. 1873 III. 399 Never in our lives trooly. 1781 Cowper Truth 521 Charge not a God with such outrageous wrong. Truly, not I. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xli, ‘Is he dead?’ ‘Ay, truly is he’. 1869 Ruskin Q. of Air iii. §146 A wide freedom, truly! |
† c. Hence as quasi-n. in phr. by (upon) my truly, in (good) truly, used as a kind of oath or asseveration. (In quot. 1594, ? a person who uses ‘truly’ as an asseveration.) colloq. Obs.
| 1580 G. Harvey Two Lett. Wks. (Grosart) I. 42 By my truely, I was neuer so scared in my lyfe. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks. (Grosart) V. 86 Hee..was one of those trecherous brother Trulies. 1604 Webster Westw. Hoe ii. i, Have you a new pen for me, master? for, by my truly, my old one is stark naught. 1672 Wycherley Love in Wood i. i, Patience,..'tis a necessary virtue for a widow without a jointure, in truly. 1697 Vanbrugh Relapse v. v, Why, in good truly, as a body may say, he is but a slam. 1795 Jemima I. 110 Part, repeated Rosina, yes, by my truly must we. |
d. In phr. yours truly, the most formal of the phrases used in subscribing a letter; hence humorously = ‘myself’.
| [1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II.) 15 And with this I solemnly assure you that I truely am Sir Y{supr}{sups} &c.] 1788 Burns Let. to R. Brown 24 Feb., Believe me to be, My dear Sir, yours most truly, R. B. 1817 Scott Let. to Miss J. Baillie 26 Sept., in Lockhart, Yours truly, W. S. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis iii, Give the young one a glass,..and score it up to yours truly. 1850 De Morgan Let. to Sir J. Herschel 26 Mar. in Mem. vii. (1882) 209 Yours very truly, A. De Morgan. |