▪ I. manly, a.
(ˈmænlɪ)
For forms see man n.1 and -ly1: also 5 Sc. mandly. Superl. 4 manlokest.
[f. man n.1 + -ly1.]
† 1. Belonging to human beings; human. Obs.
| c 1200 Vices & Virtues 43 For none winde of mannliche fandinge. a 1225 Ancr. R. 112 Swuc grure he hefde in his monliche vlesche aȝein þe stronge deorewurðe pinen þet he schulde drien. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love ii. iv. (Skeat) l. 46 The ilke three waies of liues..whiche..arne by names cleped, bestialliche, resonabliche, [and manlich. Resonablich] is vertuous. Manlich is worldlich. c 1422 Hoccleve Jereslaus's Wife 783 Be nat abassht it manly is to synne, But feendly is longe lye ther-ynne. 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495) i. xcviii. 130 b/1 The ordenaunces that I haue yeue to them for to kepe, ben manly in asmoche as I that am a man haue enjoyned them to kepe them. 1554 Knox Fort for Afflicted (1580) A 8 Wee haue another schoolemaister then manly reason. 1625 Gill Sacr. Philos. ii. 134 Hee [Satan] thought that God should rather dwell in the being of the Angels..then dwelling in the tabernacle of the manly being. |
2. Possessing the virtues proper to a man as distinguished from a woman or child; chiefly, courageous, independent in spirit, frank, upright.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 272 Wummon is þe reisun, þet is, wittes skile hwon hit unstrencðeð, þet schulde beon monlich & stalewarde & kene ine treowe bileaue. c 1350 Will. Palerne 3325 Þei..hadden gret ioye þa so manli a man wold mele in here side. Ibid. 3419 Þe stiward had a newe but of ȝong age, on þe manlokest man þat men shold of heren. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7507 He was honest and manly. c 1470 Henry Wallace vi. 785 Lykly he was, rycht fair and weill farrand, Mandly and stout. 1535 Coverdale 1 Sam. iv. 9 Be stronge now and manly ye Philistynes... Be manly and fighte. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. v. 104 Manly as Hector, but more dangerous. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ix. 421 A proud Nobility, a familiar and manly Gentry. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest v, His person was manly, and his air military. 1800 Foster in Life & Corr. (1846) I. 124 It is more manly to confess than to extenuate. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Race Wks. (Bohn) II. 30 They [the English] are rather manly than warlike. 1879 L. Stephen Hours in Library III. 62 He [Fielding] was manly to the last. |
b. Of a woman: Possessing qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of a man.
| c 1511 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 33/1 These women be very manly in fytynge and hardy. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI 113 b, This wytch or manly woman..the Frenchemen greatly glorified. a 1592 Greene Jas. IV, iv. iv, Dorot. How looke I, Nano? like a man or no? Nano. If not a man, yet like a manlie shrowe. 1774 Foote Cozeners iii. Wks. 1799 II. 186 As to fortune, she is totally careless in that... How manly that is in a woman! 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. I. 42 My aunt was a lady of large frame..she was..a very manly woman. |
c. transf. and fig.
| 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 70 The Vigour of the Native Earth Maintains the Plant, and makes a Manly Birth. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 470 The house of Auchtertyre, with a manly front of cut granite. 1801 Sk. Paris as it was II. xliv. 86 The architecture has certainly lost that gloomy tint which gave to this building a manly and respectable character. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 185 It [iron] is a manly metal, with no sordid associations like gold or silver. |
3. Of things, qualities, etc.: Befitting or belonging to a man; masculine.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxi. (Eugenia) 191 Þo þu be a woman, manlyk ar þi dedis al. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P. R. v. xlviii. (1495) 165 Yf the ballok stones be kut of manely strength passyth and male complexion changyth in to femall complexion. 1459 Rolls of Parlt. V. 348/2 Exortation..made..in so witty, so knyghtly, so manly, in so comfortable wise. 1592 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 157. ― Rom. & Jul. iii. ii. 53, I saw the wound,..here on his manly brest. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 48 The Germans speech is said to be manly, the Frenchmans sweet and fluent. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 225 Therefore with manlier objects we must try His constancy. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. i. 22 His conscious destiny made way, By manly beauty to imperial sway. a 1704 T. Brown Praise Drunkenness Wks. 1730 I. 37 The drunkards voice is hoarse and manly, not like the squeaking trils of an Eunuch. 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. liii. 401 In my earlier life I was addicted to what are termed ‘manly sports’. 1894 Gladstone Odes of Horace iii. xxiv. 54 Train we these minds effeminate With thoughts and ways of manlier state. |
† 4. Humane, charitable; generous. Obs.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 260 Artow manlyche amonge thi neiȝbores of thi mete and drynke? |
† 5. Having the attributes of a (liege) man; subservient. Obs.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 65 And also ȝif þei ȝeuen a benefis for men ben of here kyn,..or ellis for þe clerk is manly to þe lord in gay cloþinge,..or ony oþere veyn iapis. |
† 6. ‘Grown up’; adult, mature. Obs.
| 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue, Heret. Affirm. b j b, Not that they should alwayes remaine as subject thereunder [the ordinance of the Lord], but vntill the appoynted tyme, vntill the manly old age in the godly vnderstanding of the holy word. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 14 Those men..with the sinnes of their middle and manly age, doe fill vp the measure of their iniquities with the vices of a shamelesse old age. 1647 Jer. Taylor Lib. Proph. xviii. 244 If the Infant vow be invalid till the Manly confirmation. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 6 William Galeon..did in his Manly Years take upon him the Habit of the Friers of the Order of St. Austin. |
7. Comb., as manly-minded adj.
| 1818 Moore Mem. (1853) II. 163 We..walked home in the evening. Scully a good, honest, manly-minded fellow. |
▪ II. manly, adv.
(ˈmænlɪ)
For forms see man n.1 and -ly2.
[f. man n.1 + -ly2; in OE. mannl{iacu}ce.]
1. In a manly manner; like a man; manfully, courageously, with valour or energy. ? Obs. or arch.
In ME. alliterative poetry often used expletively.
| Beowulf 1046 Swa man-lice mære þeoden, hord-weard hæleþa heaþo-ræsas ᵹeald mearum ond madmum. c 1205 Lay. 26855 And hæhte heom amorȝen monliche arisen. a 1225 Ancr. R. 422 Holdeð ou ine swuche reste þet ȝe longe þerefter muwen ine Godes seruise þe monluker swinken. a 1300 E. E. Ps. xxx. 31 Dos manlike and your hert strenghþed be. a 1300 Cursor M. 21341 Man [he is] quils he manli him ledis. 1382 Wyclif 1 Macc. vi. 31 Thei maden engynys, and thei wenten out,..and fouȝten manly. c 1400 Destr. Troy 7227 He met hom full monly with his mayn dynttes. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxi. 94 Þe kyng hase all way agayne-standen him and putt him off mannely. 1586 Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. iii. ii, Faith, and, Techelles, it was manly done. 1607 Rowlands Guy Warw. 41 The ugly beast..Comes at him manly, with most dreadful paws. 1632 Lithgow Trav. v. 231 Our Souldiers..stood manly to it, with their Bowes and Arrowes. 1755 Johnson, Manly adv., with courage like a man. |
† 2. Like a human being. a. Humanely, courteously; generously. b. After the fashion of fallen man; unregenerately. Obs.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 87 Who-so hath moche, spene manliche so meneth Thobie. 1382 Wyclif 2 Macc. ix. 27 Forsothe Y trist, hym to do myldly, and manly, or curteysly. ― Acts xxvii. 3 Iulius tretynge manly [gloss. or kurteysly] Poule suffride for to go to frendis. 1547 Hooper Declar. Christ iv. D ij, Let hym tary style in the doctrine of man and lyue as manly and carnally as he list. |
† 3. Excellently, ‘bravely’. Obs.
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. iii. 235 This time goes manly: Come go we to the King, our Power is ready, Our lacke is nothing but our leaue. |