▪ I. burly, n., burly-hurly
early var. of hurly-burly.
1876 example in sense ‘bluster’.
| 1835 Blackw. Mag. XXXVIII. 310 Let him fancy the burly—the contention—the claims and counterclaims. 1876 G. M. Hopkins Wr. Deutschland (1918) st. 27 In wind's burly and beat of endragonèd seas. 1563 Golding Cæsar (1565) 31 Againe of late in Italy at the burlyhurly of the bondmen. |
▪ II. burly, a. and adv.
(ˈbɜːlɪ)
Forms: 3 borli, 4–5 borelich, burlich, -lych(e, (north.) burely, 6 boorelie, -lye, bourlie, -ly, Sc. 5 buyrlie, 6 buirlie, 7 borely, 4– burly. (See also bowerly, buirdly.)
[ME. borlich, northern burli. Usually identified with OHG. burlîh, MHG. burlîch exalted, lofty, stately, f. *bur- cogn. w. OHG. burjan to lift up + -lîh = -ly. If this be so, the word must have existed in OE. or ON.; but it is unrecorded, and no plausible etymon for the first element has yet been found in either of those langs. The phonology is also difficult, for the ME. borli, borelych, 16th c. borely, boorelye, northern 15th c. burely, Sc. buyrlie, buirlie, require a ME. *bōrli, OE. type *bórl{iacu}c, whence the later (ˈburlɪ, ˈbʌrlɪ) comes by shortening the vowel before two consonants as in turn, month. The spelling burly was originally only northern. The dial. bowerly would seem from the sense to be a variant, but it is difficult to reconcile phonologically with the ME. forms.]
A. adj.
† 1. Stately, dignified, of noble or imposing presence or appearance. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 8541 Salamon Was king sittand in his fader tron, He was a borli [v.r. burli] bachelere. c 1375 Barbour Troy-bk. i. 295 Þe commowns hade gret ferly Of sa buyrly a companye. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2191 Grete wele my ladye þe qwene..And alle þe burliche birdes þat to hir boure lengez. 1664 Floddan F. i. 8 A Talbot brave, a borely tike. Ibid. iii. 25 A burly band Of warlike wights. |
| absol. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. l, He..bede the burlyche his brand, that burneschit was briȝt. |
† b. poet. Of things: Goodly, excellent, noble. Obs. (As an epithet of spear, brand, the meaning may have been ‘stout’: cf. boisterous.)
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1488 With mony a borlych best al of brende golde. c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2224 A denez ax nwe dyȝt, þe dynt with [t]o ȝelde With a borelych bytte. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. xliii, Greselle..wos the burlokke[st] blonke, ther euyr bote brede. c 1450 Rauf Coilȝear 190 Within that burelie bygging. Ibid. 266 Ane burely bed was wrocht in that wane, Closit with Courtingis, and cumlie cled. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (1858) I. 7 He semit weill to weir ane buirlie brand. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets v. 124 My wealth's a burly spear and brand. |
2. Stout, sturdy, massively built, corpulent; of large body or trunk.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 766 A won in a mote..loken vnder boȝez, Of mony borelych bole. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3769 Tantelus..was a tulke hoge, Borly of brede. 1513 More Hist. Rich. III, Wks. 36/2 Sommewhat corpulente and boorelye, and nathelesse not vncomelye. 1596 Spenser Astrophel Elegy 7 There might you see the burly Beare. 1709 Addison Tatler No. 116 ¶1 She had a Mind to look as big and burly as other Persons of her Quality. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh i. 596 Burly oaks projecting from the line. 1866 Kingsley Herew. vii. 133 He singled out the burliest knight he saw. |
† b. Of a garment, or wool: Thick, heavy. Obs. (Cf. burl n.1)
| 1651 Mercurius Politicus 1153 Casting his Eye upon the Executioner, he [Earl of Derby] said Thy Coat is so burly, thou will never hit right. 1805 J. Luccock Nat. Wool 88 The sheep of England, when transported to Jamaica, yield the same kind of ‘burly fleece’. |
3. ‘Big’; domineering, bluff. arch.
| 1592 Sylvester Triumph Faith ii. 25 The Circumsised Crew Of Cabalists and burly Talmudists. 1645 Milton Tetrach. (1851) 180 Erasmus..was wrote against by som burly standard Divine. 1648 J. Beaumont Psyche 224 (L.) When a burly tempest rolls his pride About the world. 1864 J. H. Newman Apol. (1885) Pref. 16 They [Englishmen] are as generous as they are hasty and burly. |
4. Comb., as burly-boned, burly-headed, adjs.
| 1590 Almond for Parrat (1845) 12 These are nothing in comparison of his auncient burlibond adiunctes. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse 25 Unweildie burliboand soldiery. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. x. 60 Cut..out the burly bon'd Clowne in chines of Beefe. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. i. iv. iv. 108 Destiny has work for that swart burly-headed Mirabeau. |
B. adv. Sturdily, stoutly.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 11059 So burly þo big brusshit togedur. |
▪ III. † ˈburly, v. Obs. rare—1.
[f. the adj.]
trans. with out: To make burly; to puff out.
| 1635 Quarles Embl. i. xii. (1718) 49 Think'st thou that paunch that burlies out thy coat Is thriving fat. |