gentlemanly, a. and adv.
(ˈdʒɛnt(ə)lmənlɪ)
[f. gentleman + -ly.]
A. adj.
1. Of persons: Having the character, behaviour, or appearance of a gentleman.
| 1433 Lydg. S. Edmund ii. 128 This said Lothbrok was..riht gentilmanly in al his demenyng. 1454 W. Paston in P. Lett. No. 216 I. 303 He is countyd a jantyllmanly man and a wurshepfull. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke xv. 127 b, He must be a ientilmanly disciple of the ryght makyng orels none at all. 1615 J. Stephens Satyr. Ess. 215 But fooles of his owne fashion praise him, for a..gentlemanly Fellow. 1720 Swift Fates Clergymen Wks. 1755 II. ii. 25 The better scholar, and more gentlemanly person of the two. 1882 Ballantine Recoll. Barrister I. 78 He [Sir F. Roe] was a tall, handsome, gentlemanly man. |
† b. Of race or family: Having the position of gentlefolks. Obs. rare.
| 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 282/1 Simon Sudburie..descended of a gentlemanlie race. Ibid. 378/2 The gentlemanlie familie of the Theobalds. |
2. Natural or appropriate to a gentleman.
| 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 90 Those who not onelie want the gentlemanlie instinct, but besides liue dissolutely. 1581 J. Studley tr. Seneca's Hippol. 55 The gentlemanly pastime of hunting. 1615 W. Lawson Orch. & Gard. (1626) 17 In so good, Gentlemanly, Scholerlike, and profitable a Faculty. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 490 ¶8 The Word Consort..would..give a more Gentlemanly Turn to the Epigram. 1818 Gentl. Mag. LXXXVIII. ii. 247 These lectures are highly beneficial, both in diffusing among the votaries of the severer studies a gentlemanly portion of general information [etc.]. 1826 Croker in C. Papers (1884) l. xi. 352 The Duke often expressed a high opinion of what we call the gentlemanly spirit. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown i, We keep very gentlemanly hours. |
3. Comb., an gentlemanly-looking adj.
| 1861 Neale Notes Dalmatia, etc. 97 A portly, gentlemanly-looking Canon. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 232 One of them is a gentlemanly-looking man, who wears a gray shirt. |
B. adv. As befits a gentleman. Now rare.
| 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. v. So gentylmanly they demeaned were. 1440 in Lett. Illustr. Wars in France (Rolls) II. 307 Also Y pray ȝoue that ȝe wylle sende me worde..what yt costyth; for trwly Y wulle chentylmanly aquyte ȝoure labour. 1534 More Let. to Marg. Roper Wks. 1429/1 Maister doctour Wilson..was..gentilmanly sent streight vnto the towre. 1586 Cyv. & Vncyv. Life To Gentlem. Rdrs., Euery Gentleman wil gentlemanly iudge of all things. 1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales II. 284 Like Horace's Satires, where the ridiculum and acre are so gentlemanly combined. |