▪ I. † ˈwishly, a. Obs. rare.
[? f. next.]
? Steadfast.
| 1578 T. Procter Gorg. Gallery Invent. H ij, Vlisses wife shall mate the sore, whose wishly troth doth shine. |
▪ II. wishly, adv. Obs. exc. dial.
(ˈwɪʃlɪ)
Also 6 wysh(e)-, wishe-, 7 wishtly.
[? Alteration of wistly adv. influenced by wish.]
Steadfastly, fixedly, intently; occas. longingly. (Almost always qualifying look or some equivalent: cf. wistfully.)
| 1530 Palsgr. fol. 183, I cast my syght vpon a thyng to beholde it wyshely. Ibid., And sodaynly he caste his syght wyshely vpon me. 1533 More Answ. Poysoned Bk. v. ii. Wks. 1134/2 Causing hym to putte on his spectacles, and pore better and more wishely with his olde eyen vpon saynt Iohns ghospell. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xi. 522 æacides, that wishly did intend..how deepe the skirmish drew Amongst the Greeks. 1622 J. Abernethy Chr. Treat. Physick Soule v. 73 Thou must bee wishly exstimulate in thy conscience. 1647 Trapp Comm. Matt. vi. 4. 186 He looketh wishtly, fixedly, steddily. 1660 S. Ford Loyal Subj. Exult. 21 Those thousands of loyall Subjects, who..had looked wishtly towards the royall Palace. 1680 R. L'Estrange Erasm. Colloq. xiii. 186 Looking wishly up into the Air [orig. intentis in cœlum oculis]. 1683 Cave Ecclesiastici App. 27 Woman, said he, tell me why dost thee so wishly behold me? a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Wishly, earnestly; wishfully; with longing... ‘The children eyed the plum-pudding wishly.’ 1902 Longman's Mag. Nov. 40, I seed him yesterday a⁓cranen' over th' wall and eyen' on her wishly. |