surely, adv.
(ˈʃʊəlɪ, ˈʃɔəlɪ)
Forms: see sure a.; also 4 surliche, surlych, compar. surlokere, 4–6 surly, -lie, 6 shorly, showrly, suuerlie.
[f. sure a. + -ly2.]
In a sure manner.
I. Expressing the manner of an action, etc.
1. a. Without danger, or risk of injury, loss, or displacement; securely, safely; firmly. arch.
| 13.. Sir Beues (A.) 2559 Hii þouȝten..He wolde hem surliche lede. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) ix. 34 He myght seurly dwell in þat citee withouten..any harme takyng. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1236 The souerayn hym-seluon was surly enarmyt. 1464 Paston Lett. Suppl. (1901) 85, I charge you..ye suffer noon of thayme to passe oute of your garde, but suerle to kepe thaym. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §32 The husband may set shepe..vnder the same scaffold..if it be well and surely made. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxxiv. 449 Grauell to balayse his shyp withal that it myght sayle the more suerlyer. 1615 W. Lawson Country Housew. Garden (1626) 22 Your stakes..would be so surely put..that they breake not, if any thing happen to leane vpon them. 1648 Gage West Ind. xix. 140 The Indian must be..surely tied to a post by his hands. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 585 Thus surely bound, yet..The slipp'ry God will try to loose his hold. 1834 Lyte Hymn, ‘Praise, Lord, for Thee in Zion waits’ iii, How blest Thy saints! how safely led! How surely kept! |
† b. With security or stability of obligation or loyalty; steadfastly. Obs.
| c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1281 Ac arst þow schalt sykery me, & þy treuþe surly plyȝte, Þat þou for me schalt don a þyng þat y schal the saye. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 660 Wherfor he willed and comaunded surely that the forsaid mynchons shold haue and holde all ther almesse and possessions. 1465 Paston Lett. II. 209, I shall have the maner sewrlyer to me..than the Dewk shall have Cossey. 1561 Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. §9 Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 78 Keipand suirlie the articulis of our beleif. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. ii. 36 That I may surely keepe mine oath. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. xii. 2 Whom all the bands, Which may a Knight assure, had surely bound. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus ii. 14. (1619) 513 Whose bonds are..binding them euery day surelier then other ouer to destruction. |
2. With certainty, assurance, or confidence; for certain; undoubtingly, confidently. arch.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 315 Ȝet surely I hope, Efte to trede on þy temple. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 520 Wanne þy hert ys hol & fer þe surlokere þou miȝt fiȝte. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 1561 Ȝet þis we mow wyton & know seurly Þat god [etc.]. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 255/2 The bisshop..wente oute ageynst the enemyes surely and the peple folowed hym. 1529 More Dyaloge iii. v. 76/2 And than y{supt} case onys graunted, ye deduce your conclusyon very surely. a 1530 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. I. 304, I trowst showrly to come vp to Londone. 1533 Gau Richt Vay 8 To traist suuerlie al time guid of hime as of thair maist tender fader. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 232 b, Spekyng these wordes (thinking surely much to please the kyng). a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 115 He beleivit suirelie that the king had beine thair. 1629 Milton Hymn Nativ. iv, As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by. 1820 Keats Lamia ii. 113 Knowing surely she could never win His foolish heart from its mad pompousness. |
3. a. So as to be certain to achieve or reach a result or end; without risk of failure; infallibly.
Now chiefly in slowly but surely.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 2456 Serche it full suerly, and se to þe ende. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. ii. (1885) 113 The prince..mey therby þe more surely do justice than bi is owne arbitrment. 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. v. xxviii. (W. de W.) iij/2 Noo party of the body towchyth and gropyth so surely as the honde. c 1520 Everyman 147 Yf I sholde this pylgrymage take, And my rekenynge suerly make,..Sholde I not come agayne shortly? 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. xiii. (1627) 181 The most excellent patterns..doe most auaile, to teach the soonest and sureliest. 1653 Baxter Chr. Concord 13 That..their duties..may be the surelier performed. 1754 Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. i. 3 The best Religion is that which will most surely direct us to eternal Life. 1873 Spon Workshop Rec. Ser. i. 3/2 If a drawing could be..surely made without mistake..it might be made in ink. 1912 W. B. Selbie Nonconformity xii. 228 These things are slowly but surely coming about. |
† b. Soundly, thoroughly. Obs. rare.
App. confused with sorely.
| c 1450 tr. Higden, Harl. Contin. (Rolls) VIII. 479 The Lollardes bytoke that Frere and trode hym under theire feete and bete hym surely. 1513 Life Hen. V (1911) 17 At such enterprises both he and his Companie weare surelie beaten. |
II. Qualifying a statement.
4. a. (a) Certainly, assuredly, undoubtedly. Often with less emphasis, as a mere intensive: Truly, verily, indeed.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1643 Hit is surely soth, þe souerayn of heuen Fylsened euer þy fader. c 1375 Cursor M. 23031 (Fairf.), Þaire penaunce sal be seurely To loke on þa deuels witerli. c 1400 Beryn 2316 And ȝit suyrly I mervell nat þouȝ þat it be so. c 1450 Lovelich Grail lv. 116 ‘How May I this beleve?’ quod Aleyn, ‘ȝis sewrly’, quod the kyng, ‘In Certeyn’. 1530 Palsgr. 866/2 Ye suerly, voyre certes. 1592 Arden of Feversham iv. iv. 26 As surely as I liue, Ile banish pittie if thou vse me thus. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 22 The principal amang the tounes is halden (surlie) Edinburgh. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V iii. ii. 126 Ile pay't as valorously as I may, that sal I suerly do. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 171 Abimelech..seeing Isaac sporting with Rebecca, concluded thereupon that she was surely his Wife. 1831 Scott Ct. Rob. xx, Alas! they seem but too surely to be here. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. 16 Money makes the mare and its driver to go as surely in Spain as in all other countries. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxx, Surely rest is meet. 1867 H. Macmillan Bible Teach. x. (1870) 208 As surely as the leaf fades, so surely shall we fade. 1907 Grandgent Introd. Vulgar Latin §251 Initial h was surely very feeble..during the Republic. |
(b) As an affirmative answer: cf. sure adv. 3 c.
| 1821 Scott Kenilw. xii, ‘Know you Cumnor-place, near Oxford?’ ‘Surely,’ said the clergyman. 1876 C. M. Yonge Three Brides II. viii. 152 ‘I must go. Can I?’ ‘Surely, as soon as there is a train.’ 1922 E. Raymond Tell England ii. i. 166 ‘Surely,’ answered my companion, which was a new way he had acquired of saying ‘yes’. 1975 M. Russell Murder by Mile iii. 19 ‘Like to follow me along?’ ‘Surely.’ |
b. Used to express a strong belief in the statement, on the basis of experience or probability, but without absolute proof, or as implying a readiness to maintain it against imaginary or possible denial: = as may be confidently supposed; as must be the case; may not one be sure that{ddd}? (The chief current sense.)
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. i. ii. 93 Greene indeed is the colour of Louers: but to haue a Loue of that colour, methinkes Sampson had small reason for it. He surely affected her for her wit. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 923 Had'st thou alleg'd To thy deserted host this cause of flight, Thou surely hadst not come sole fugitive. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 302 ¶7 Surely never did such a Philosophic Soul inhabit such a beauteous Form! 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. i. §16 You will not surely deny the conclusion, when you admit the premises? 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxiii, ‘Surely, Annette,’ said Emily, starting, ‘I heard a noise: listen.’ 1832 H. Martineau Elia of Gar. ii. 21 Twelve! it cannot be so much surely. 1846 Dickens Cricket on Hearth i, They might know better than to leave their clocks so very lank and unprotected, surely. 1870 Freeman Norm. Conq. (ed. 2) I. App. 679 This incident is surely an essential part of the story. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xxxvi, Surely it could not fail! 1908 R. Bagot A. Cuthbert xxviii. 373 If Anthony will forgive me, surely God will! |
c. With the second syllable stressed and lengthened (ʃʊəˈlaɪ), in prec. sense, or as a mere intensive. dial. or vulgar colloq.
| 1837 Dickens Pickw. vi, ‘Reg'lar good land that,’ interposed another fat man. ‘And so it is, sure-ly,’ said a third fat man. 1859 Lang Wand. India 253 He did love her, surely, sir. 1864 Tennyson North. Farmer, Old Style xiv, What a man a beä sewer-loy! |