▪ I. yearly, a. (n.)
(ˈjɪəlɪ)
[OE. ᵹéarlic = OFris. ier(a)lik, MLG. jârlik, jaerlije, OHG. jârlich (MHG. jaerlich, G. jährlich), ON. árligr: see year1 and -ly1.]
† 1. Of the year; belonging or relating to a year. Obs. rare.
| c 1000 Hexameron of St. Basil (1849) 12 Næron nane tida on ðam ᵹearlican ᵹetæle ær ðam ðe se ælmihtiᵹa scyppend ᵹesceop ða tunglan to ᵹearlicum tidum. 1557 Order of Hospitalls F v b, Yow shall kepe an Yerely-Booke for Collections, Legacies and Benevolences. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage To Rdr., The naturall Philosophers may obserue..the varietie of heauenly influence, of the yearely seasons. c 1811 in Rep. Comm. Publ. Rec. Irel. (1815) 104 The Recognizances..are regularly arranged in yearly bundles according to their Receipts. |
2. Done, made, observed, happening, coming, produced, etc. every year or once a year; annual.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) A 618 Annua, ᵹerlice. 925–36 Laws of æthelstan Prol., Ᵹe ðæs libbendes yrfes, ᵹe ðæs ᵹearlices westmes. c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. xi. 216 The seid solempne ȝeerli goyng bi ij. tymes in ech ȝeer. 1531 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 24, I will that ther be a yerlie obit done. 1561 Winȝet Bk. Questions §63 Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 115 The ȝierly celebratioun of the Pasche day. 1595 Shakes. John iii. i. 81 The yearely course that brings this day about. 1697 Dryden æneis v. 77 And yearly Games may spread the Gods renown. a 1721 Prior New-Year's Gift to Phyllis i, The circling months begin this day, To run their yearly ring. 1857 H. Miller Test. Rocks xii. 470 In some of the fossil-trees these yearly rings are of great breadth. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. II. vii. 85 An officer, who provided them with daily food and with a yearly change of raiment. |
b. esp. of payments, charges, revenue.
| a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 2406 Þai..ȝerely tribute him to geue ȝapely him hetis. 1452 Lincoln Dioc. Doc. (1914) 61 To whome I haue granted any fees, annuetes, yerely rentis, or fermes. 1524 Act 14 & 15 Hen. VIII, c. 3 §8 Landes and tenementes to the yerely value of xx. s. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iv. i. 315 Fiue hundred poore I haue in yeerely pay. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 318 Having received an yearely pension of Lewis the eleaventh. 1712 Hughes Spect. No. 316 ¶6 The yearly Rent which gives the Value to the Estate. 1855 Kingsley Heroes, Theseus ii. 237 O people and King of Athens, where is your yearly tribute? |
c. Engaged or hired by the year.
| [1611 Bible Lev. xxv. 53 As a yeerely hired seruant shall he be with him.] 1891 Daily News 28 Mar. 2/6 Wages had gone up 5l. a year for yearly men. |
d. Yearly Meeting, in the Society of Friends (Quakers), a national assembly held annually to deal with legislation and questions of policy (see esp. quot. 1869). Cf. quarterly-meeting (a) s.v. quarterly a. 3.
| 1688 Testimony for the Lord, & His Truth (Women Friends, York) 1 Given forth by the Women Friends at their Yearly Meeting at York, being a Tender Salutation of Love to their Friends and Sisters in their several Monthly Meetings. 1714 in Jrnl. Friends Hist. Soc. (1918) 28 Thence into Maryland to friends yearly-meeting at Tradaven-Creek..wherein Truth was plentifully afforded to ye bowing of many souls here. 1831 in S. B. Weeks Southern Quakers & Slavery (1896) xi. 300 There is not a school in the limits of the [North Carolina] Yearly Meeting that is under the care of a committee of either monthly or preparative meeting. 1869 Beck & Ball London Friends' Meetings v. 53 The Yearly Meeting was from its commencement..first and chiefly, a gathering of public Friends (i.e. ministers), to confer together on matters of faith and doctrine... The ministers alone formed the Annual Assembly in London; but in 1677 the invitation for deputies from the Quarterly Meetings was renewed... The representative element has been formally recognised, and thereby the Yearly Meeting has come to its position of legislative importance in the Church. 1923 E. B. Emmott Short Hist. Quakerism xi. 171 The proposal for a General Meeting for the whole country (which we now call the Yearly Meeting) came in the first instance from Durham Friends..in 1659. 1949 Friend 17 June 497/1 When the Clerk, in Yearly Meeting, announces the Report of the Committee on Accounts, it is quite astonishing to note how many Friends..get up and walk out. 1974 G. Hubbard Quaker by Convincement i. iii. 41 Through the queries answered in writing four times a year by Monthly Meetings, the Yearly Meeting kept a watchful eye on departures from the norm. |
▪ II. yearly, adv.
(ˈjɪəlɪ)
[OE. ᵹéarl{iacu}ce = MLG. jârlik, OHG. jârlich, ON. árliga, etc.: see year1 and -ly2.]
Every year, once a year, year by year, annually.
| c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 347/9 Annuatim, ᵹearlice. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xl. (Ninian) 1079 Þat man syne ȝerly can hym seke..Ilke ȝere..fra quhare he duelt in Ingland. a 1400 Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. (1914) 58 Þe gernare þat kepis ȝerely þe whete þat es rede with-owte and white with-in. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 47 A feld yerly tyllyd, or ellys euyry othyr yere. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. v. (1885) 119 Such as wolde haue ben feyner of a c. li in hand, than of xl. li worth lande yerely. 1500 Reg. Privy Seal Scot. I. 68/1 To haf merkatis and fairis in the said burgh ȝerle, with a merkat cors. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 31, I thought one might haue had a farme or a lease for a reasonable rent yeerely. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 177 There is a Caravan that yearly in Lent goes from Caire to Jerusalem. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 536 He gave yearly great sums in charity. 1830 A. Cunningham Brit. Painters II. 176 The demand for his works lessened yearly. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 65 It was agreed that Sunderland should receive this sum yearly. |
▪ III. yearly
dial. form of early.
| 1797 A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl (1813) IV. 209 A monstrous pretty garden, Miss;..I am up yearly and late at it myself. |