▪ I. worldly, a.
(ˈwɜːldlɪ)
Forms and etym.: see world n. and -ly2; also 3 worlich, 8 Sc. warly.
[OE. woruldlic: cf. OFris. wraldlîk, OS. weroldlîk, MLG. wer(l)tlik, MDu. wereldlîk, Du. -lijk, OHG. weraltlîh (MHG. wer(e)ltlîch, G. weltlich), ON. veraldligr (Sw. verldslig, Da. verdslig).]
1. Of or belonging to this world (as distinguished from the other world); pertaining to or connected with man's earthly existence; earthly, mundane.
| c 888 ælfred Boeth. viii, Ᵹeseᵹe..hwæðer þe betere þince, nu nanwuht woruldlices fæstes & unhwearfiendes bion ne mæᵹ? c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 60 To forsewennysse woruldlicra æhta. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 149 If he ne mei mid worldliche echte his neode ibete þet him sare roweþ. c 1200 Ormin 1628 Þatt tu þweorrt ut..forrwerrpe All weorelldlike lif & lusst. a 1225 Ancr. R. 94 Þeos sihðe [of the bliss of heaven]..schal urouren ou more þene muhte eni worldlich sihðe. Ibid. 190 Euerich worlich wo is Godes sonde. c 1325 Song of Yesterday 29 in E.E.P. (1862) 134 Þis eorþeli ioie þis worldly blis Is but a fykel fantasy. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 813 Worldly selynesse Which clerkes callen fals felicite. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 453 Þis is þe freest vss þat men han off worldly godis. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 241 Alle fleshly lustys she dede despyse, No werdly wurshepe myht hyr supprise. c 1450 Knt. de la Tour 14 Humilite is the furst entre and wey of frenship and wordely loue. c 1475 Partenay 3838 Adieu, my plesaunce And gladnesse worly! 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xii. 13 Welth, warldly gloir, and riche array. 1548–9 Bk. Com. Prayer, Matrimony, With al my worldly Goodes I thee endowe. 1556 J. Heywood Spider & Fly ii. 94 Then doth all worldelie pleasure past apere..all vanitee. 1617 Sir W. Mure Misc. Poems xviii. 6 Too sone (alace!).. Thy pairt is acted on this wordlie stage. 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 213 And thou thy self seem'st otherwise inclin'd Then to a worldly Crown. 1708 Prior Turtle & Sparrow 139 Exempt from worldly Hopes and Fears. 1742 Fielding J. Andrews iv. viii, The parson..persisted in doing his duty without regarding the consequence it might have on his worldly interest. 1784 Burns ‘Green grow the Rashes’ iv, Warly cares, an' warly men, May a' gae tapsalteerie, O! 1848 Dickens Dombey xlix, Too much a child in worldly matters. 1849 Lever Con Cregan xviii, While I wander along,..my worldly substance a few dollars. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. I. iii. 246 In point of worldly prudence, his conduct was unexceptionably wise. 1871 Smiles Character i. (1876) 8 Indeed, goodness in a measure implies wisdom—the highest wisdom—the union of the worldly with the spiritual. |
† 2. Of, belonging to, or connected with this world and its inhabitants; earthly, human, mortal.
| c 1205 Lay. 6304 Heo wes swiðe wis of wordliche dome. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 58 Þe weies þat were here wordliche makus. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 371 Who so wol haue to wyue my worldliche daughter. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) Pref. 2 Wald Godd þat þir werldly lordes ware at gude accorde. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. xliv, Gif ȝe be warldly wight, that dooth me sike. c 1440 York Myst. xxvii. 128 No wordely drede schall me withdrawe, That I schall with þe leue and dye. 1528 Tindale Obed. Chr. Man 55 Is it not..a monstrous thinge y{supt} no man shulde be founde able to governe a worldly kingdome save Bisshopes and prelates that have forsaken the worlde. 1558 Knox First Blast (Arb.) 6 Kinges, princes and worldlie rulers did conspire against God. 1583 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 73 Too what soyle worldlye to iourney Thow doost commaund vs? 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iii. ii. 56 The breath of worldly men cannot depose The Deputie elected by the Lord. 1601 W. Percy Cuckqueanes & Cuckolds Errants iv. i. (Roxb.) 45 Dou. I had a husband once, but he has left mee. Aru. A worse then myne the wordly eye beholds not. Dou. A worse then myne the heauenly coupe enfolds not. 1614 J. Davies in W. Browne Sheph. Pipe, etc. G 4 b, Of world, ne worly men take thou no keepe. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 193 God did not make the world or worldly beings, that the bigness..of them should set forth to us his alfillingness. |
† b. Of the whole world, universal, general.
Obs.| 1538 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 153 Ye do thus admonyshe them, to thintent they shuld..eschewe..the wordely rebuke that they might incurre hereafter. a 1550 Vox Populi xi. 38 in Skelton's Wks. (1843) II. 410 There is no smale nombre That this faute dothe incombre: Yt is a wordly wondre. |
c. Of the terrestrial globe.
rare.
| 1812 Cary Dante, Parad. i. 40 [The sun] comes; and, to the worldly wax, best gives Its temper and impression. |
† 3. Of or belonging to the world (as distinguished from the church or the cloister); secular;
occas. † lay.
Obs.| a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 7 Mar. 36 He forlet þa wæpna ond þa woruldlican wisan ond eode on þæt mynster. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 121 Bi colour þat crist was þus worldly lord, þerfore þei schulden haue þus seculer lordischipis bi heritage of crist. c 1390 in Wyclif's Wks. (Wycl. Soc. 1910) 145 A curat and an officer in wordly seruise. a 1400 Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) i. lxii, It may be that there is many a wyf and many worldlyche woman shall be nerer god than thou. c 1400 Rom. Rose 6230 It folowith not that they Shulde..her soules leese, That hem to worldly clothes chese;..Men may in seculer clothes see Florishen hooly religioun. a 1500 Bernard de Cura rei fam. i. 4 Sum [books] maide for law of god in document, And oþir sum for varldly regiment. c 1500 Melusine lvii. 336 There he herd the deuyne seruyse deuoutly but yet had he on hys worldly gownes. 1562 Jewel Apol. Ch. Eng. 56 b, What other be the Abbots at this day in y⊇ Popes kingdome, but worldly Princes? 1658 in Morris Troubles Cath. Foref. (1872) i. vi. 315 All this time [of the floods], Shrovetide, some worldly people came in to see the harm which the waters had done us. |
4. Of persons, their actions or attributes: Devoted to the world and its pursuits.
| c 1320 Cast. Love 983 Þe worldlich mon euere i-liche Loueþ þing þat is worldliche. 1340 Ayenb. 210 Alle þoȝtes ulessliche and wordleliche me ssel diȝte uram þe herte. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 89 Worldly prelatis ful of coueitise symonye & heresie. c 1410 Love Bonavent. Mirr. xxxi. (1908) 153 Worldely men and fleschely. 1570 Googe Pop. Kingd. ii. 20 Besides more worldly mindes they haue, and of more wanton chere, Than worldlymen. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 89, I thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated To closenes. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 803 The conquerd also..Thenceforth shall practice how to live secure, Worldlie or dissolute. 1693 Prior To C'tess of Exeter 26 You far above Both these Your God did place; That Your high Pow'r might worldly Thoughts destroy. 1785 Burns Ep. Lapraik xx, Awa, ye selfish, warly race. 1832 Lytton Eugene A. i. xii, The worldlier passions are the growth of mature years. 1860 Hawthorne Transformation xii, It is the surest test of genuine love, that it brings back our early simplicity to the worldliest of us. 1875 Manning Mission H. Ghost viii. 218 A man who is trying to serve two masters is a worldly man. 1902 V. Jacob Sheep-Stealers xi, The ‘Green Dragon’..was the point of migration to the worldly part of the county, just as the Cathedral was the point of migration to the spiritual. |
5. Comb., as
worldly-witted adj.;
† worldly-handed a., occupied in worldly or secular employment;
worldly-minded a., having a worldly mind, having the thoughts set upon the things of this world (hence
ˌworldly-mindedness).
| 1657 J. Watts Vind. Ch. Eng. 256 You have brought us to be *worldly-handed men, handy-crafts-men. |
| 1601 Song of Mary in Farr Sel. P., Eliz. (Parker Soc.) II. 426 The world disdaines them; And why? because they are not *worldly-minded. 1611 Bible Luke xiv. (heading), Vnder the parable of the great supper, sheweth how worldly minded men..shalbe shut out of heauen. a 1838 [see unhumbled ppl. a.]. |
| a 1628 Preston Mt. Ebal (1638) 36 *Worldly mindednesse..begets coldnesse of affection. 1748 Hartley Observ. Man ii. iv. §4. 405 Men..carried from Worldly-mindedness to Heavenly-mindedness. 1849 Longfellow Kavanagh vii. Prose Wks. 1886 II. 313 Evil propensities, and self-seeking, and worldly-mindedness. |
| 1563 Homilies ii. Inform. Places Script. i. S ss j b, And some *worldlye witted men, thynke it a great decaye to..their common wealthes, to geue eare to the simple..preceptes of..Christ. 1845 Mrs. Norton Child of Islands (1846) 168 The shallow craft of worldly-witted fools. |
Hence (chiefly
nonce-wds.)
ˈworldlify v. trans., to render worldly;
† ˈworldlihood, worldliness;
ˈworldlily adv., in a worldly manner;
† ˈworldlyship, worldliness.
| 1612 T. James Jesuits' Downf. 57 When religion was once *worldlefied in him, and that state-matters..had so great a part in his studies. |
| c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. vii. 319 Tho persoones..were religiose men, forsaking miche of *worldlihode and of fleischlihode. |
| 1818 Bentham Ch. Eng., Ch. Eng. Catech. Exam. 122 Hired and *worldlily-interested advocates. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Doubts & F. iv, He began to reconsider worldlily and suspiciously all the incidents. |
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 151 And þis *worldlyshipe shal laste as longe as prelatis ben þus worldli. |
▪ II. worldly, adv. (
ˈwɜːldlɪ)
[f. after prec. with -ly2. Cf. OHG. werltlîchi.] In a worldly manner; with a worldly intent or disposition:
freq. qualifying an
adj. used
attrib. (and hyphened). See also next.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 234 Alle þe haluwen weren worldliche itented. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 427 We ben busy of no swink nor no burn maken For to wirchen our wil & wordliche serue. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 151 Here is þe world taken for men þat lyven worldli. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 162 It were als litel nede or lasse, That thou so worldly wolt compasse With flaterie forto serve. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 104 Þei lifen worldly, & hidun þer vicis wiþ a veyn hiȝt of better lif. c 1485 Wisdom 405 Her is a man that levith wardly. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 20 Worldly lyuynge chrysten people. 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. xi. P j b, Those worldly disposed people. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 568 By things deemed weak Subverting worldly strong, and worldly wise By simply meek. 1700 Dryden Wife of Bath's Tale 493 Since I see your Mind is Worldly bent. 1883 H. Drummond Nat. Law in Spir. W. (ed. 2) 197 [A] lowering of religious tone to the level of the worldly-religious world around. 1884 J. Tait Mind in Matter (1892) 332 They embrace and sanctify every form of worldly-personal consequence. 1896 Black Briseis xvii, Worldly-pious waverings. |