verily, adv. (and a.) Now arch. or rhet.
(ˈvɛrɪlɪ)
Forms: α. 4 verrailiche, verrayle, 4–5 verrayly (4 varrayly), verraily, 4–6 verayly, 5 veraily; 4 verei-, ver(r)eyliche, verreyly, -li, verreili, 4–5 -ly, 5 verreilly. β. 4 verali, 4–6 veraly, 4–5 verraly, 5 verralye, 5–6 -ie, 6 veralie, 5 Sc. wer(r)aly, weralie. γ. 5 verelyche, -liche, 4–5 verrely, 5 vereli, 5–6 verelye, 5–7 verely, 6 verelie, verrelle, Sc. werelie. δ. 4 verilyche, verrylyk, verrili, 4–5 verry-, verrily (5 varily), 5–8 veryly, 6 verilye, Sc. verie-, weri(e)-, verrilie, 5– verily.
[f. very a. + -ly2. Cf. next and verament adv.]
A. adv. In truth or verity; as a matter of truth or fact; in deed, fact, or reality; really, truly.
Freq., latterly almost entirely, used as an emphatic affirmation of the truth of a statement, esp. with verbs of believing, thinking, etc. In ME. and older Sc. poetry often used as a mere rime-tag.
| α a 1300 Cursor M. 17288 + 422 Þai..told þam [sc. the apostles] openly, How þai saȝe crist & with him spake, on-liue ful verraily. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 9239 Þe nerrer þat þai sal hym be, Þe verreylyer þai sal hym se. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 177 So þat þe raþer welles beeþ now but lakes, oþer more vereyliche dreye chanels wiþ oute watir. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xv. 70 Þe whilk..descryued me þe maners of oþer cuntrees.. als graythely and als verraily as þai had bene euer ȝit dwelland in þam. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. lxxxvii. (1869) 49 With inne this bred al the souereyn good is put,..presentliche and verreyliche. c 1450 Mir. Saluacioun (Roxb.) 44 This prophecie was fullfillid in dede fulle verrayly. 1485 Caxton Paris & V. (1868) 33 Knowe ye verayly that it is not longe sythen, that the sayd Iewels were..gyuen to me. |
| β a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxviii. 175 My saule sall verraly & perfitly loue þe in new sange. c 1350 Will. Palerne 5197, I schal hastili me hiȝe..to venge þe verali for ouȝt þat bi-tideþ. 1422 Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. 135 Who so weraly desyryth good rennoune he shall be renounet and preysid. c 1475 Golagros & Gaw. 1036 Me think farar to dee, Than schamyt be, verralie, Ane sclander to byde. 1508 Dunbar Poems iv. 90 Gud Maister Walter Kennedy, In poynt of dede lyis veraly. 1562 Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 87 Gif ȝe beleue that our Saluiour did thir thingis veralie and indeid. |
| γ c 1374 Chacuer Boeth. iv. pr. iv. (1868) 127 Whan I considre þi resouns, quod I, I ne trowe nat þat men seyn any þing more verrely. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 399 Lazar and oþer weren verely deede, and verely reysid by Crist to lyve. 14.. Sir Beues (O.) 2577, I thanke you, sayde Beuys, verely. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1885) 153 Wich materes thrugly considered, it semyth verely good, þat [etc.]. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. (1516) 27/1 Whenne he had reygned or more verely vsurped by the terme of .iiii. yeres. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 295, I think verely by his valyantnesse that he will not flie. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. ii. 7, I doo verely beleeue y{supt} the spirit of God..did make them to be of that nature. a 1647 Habington Surv. Worcs. (Worc. Hist. Soc.) ii. 301 The father, I verely thincke, of Sir Walter Skule. |
| δ 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 10045 Whan þe vble was on þe auter leyd,..Alle þre þoȝt þan verrylyk, Before þe prest, þat a chyld lay quyk. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 374 Þei knowen verrili how þat Crist is Goddis Sone. c 1410 Sir Cleges 305 The vsscher lyfte vp the lede smartly, And sawe the cheryse verily. 1451 Paston Lett. I. 215 If he wold make yow promys that ye myght veryly trust upon hym. 1483 Cath. Angl. 399/2 Varily,..vere. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxxxii. 255, I beleue veryly that thou dydyst dye on the holy crosse to redeme vs all. 1552 Huloet, Verilye so manye, totidem. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. ix. 147 Some in the passage demaunded confession, thinking verily to die. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 207, I am therefore verily perswaded, that the name of Hercules even to this place came either [etc.]. 1682–3 Pennsylv. Arch. I. 55 Though I could veryly hope my enemy were reconciled. 1708 Swift Sacram. Test Wks. 1755 II. i. 127 We are verily persuaded, the consequence will be an entire alteration of religion among us. 1771 Junius' Lett. liv. (1788) 293 He..verily believes him an honest man. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T., Forester, A Clerk, A person whom he now verily believed to be, as he had originally suspected, insane. 1839 Carlyle Chartism i. (1858) 3 The time is verily come for acting in it. 1851 Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. i. 122 Thou couldst..laugh the laugh back, I think verily. |
| Comb. 1586 Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 4 The first..appeareth to be Accusatorie, which..either simply by coniectures or by matter of knowne, or verily supported truth,..may bee conueyed. |
b. Placed in front of a sentence or statement as an emphatic asseveration of its truth or accuracy;
freq. connoting the truth of a preceding statement.
In versions of the
N.T. regularly used to render L.
amen, G. ἀµήν, which are
freq. strengthened by repetition.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 10068 Þys y beleue, and euer y shal; For verryly we se hyt alle. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xx. 12 Forsothe and verreili my sister she is. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xlvi. 194 (Harl. MS.), Þerefor he that hathe þe Ringe of Feithe, vereliche he shalle have al thinges to his likinge. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1885) 114 But verely thai liven in the most extreme pouertie and miserie. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems l. 52 Verralie, that war gryt rycht. 1535 Coverdale John iii. 3 Verely verely I saye vnto the [etc.]. Ibid. 11 Verely I saye vnto y⊇ [etc.] . 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 44 b, Verely the kyng of England had so great trust..in the honor..of the French kyng. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 268 And verily there remaineth yet a great Castle. 1632 Sanderson Serm. 11 As if despising were an especiall..kind of offending, or scandalizing. And verely so it is, especially to the Weake. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 43 ¶4 Verily, Mr. Spectator, we are much offended at the Act for Importing French Wines. 1849 Lytton Caxtons 37 Verily at times he looked on him as a book. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. ii. iii. 127 Verily, we sit securely! 1879 Butcher & Lang Odyssey 158 For verily the might of the sun was sore upon him. |
c. Used to emphasize a negative or affirmative particle.
| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ix. 224 Dyde ever ony man so grete a trayson as I have doon, nay vereli. 1509 Fisher Fun. Serm. C'tess Richm. Wks. (1876) 307 Were not she an vnkinde & vngentyl moder? Yes verayly. 1549 Chaloner Erasm. on Folly F iij, Naie, verilier, that is it to be a man. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 138 You saye I shall take the Angles of sight of euerye place that I can see... Yea verelye. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. Annot., Should they then becom perfect chords? No verily. 1611 Bible Acts xvi. 37 Nay verily, but let them come themselues, and fetch vs out. 1647 Hexham, Yea verily, ia trouwens, ofte ja voorwaer. [1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. viii, Yes, verily, my lords and gentlemen,..so you must.] |
† B. adj. True, very.
Obs. rare.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxxxix. 8 Lord, verralyest lord, noght as men ere lordis. c 1425 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1285 Morpheus, That hym before warnyd of the verryly tyde. |