▪ I. † ˈsoothly, a. Obs. rare.
[f. sooth a. + -ly1.]
Soothful, truthful; true, real, etc.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxviii. §5 Ne þincð me næfre nanwuht swa soðlic swa me þincað þine spell. a 1300 Cursor M. 13443 Bot iohn was sothlist in saus. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xlv. 2 Soþeli sawes I wol ȝou telle Of gentyl Ihesu. 1777 Mickle Syr Martyn i. xlvi, Dear was the kindlie love which Kathrin bore This crooked Ronion, for in soothly guise She was her genius and her counsellor. |
▪ II. soothly, adv. (and conj.) Now arch.
(ˈsuːθlɪ)
[f. sooth a. + -ly2.]
1. In or with sooth or truth; truly, verily; as a matter of fact; assuredly, certainly, really; indeed.
Freq. in OE. and ME.; from c 1450 to c 1600 chiefly Sc. Very rare in the 17th and 18th centuries.
| α c 825 Vesp. Psalter lvii. 2 Ᵹif soðlice [L. vere]..rehtwisnisse spreocað. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xv. 39 Soðlice monn ðes sunu godes wæs. 971 Blickl. Hom. 59 Swyþe soþlice we maᵹon ᵹeþencan þæt hit biþ deaþes ylding. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 15 Soðliche me þunched..þet al þas wrake is icumen ouer alle þeode. c 1200 Ormin 6445 Þær wass sene þatt ȝho wass Soþlike Godess moderr. c 1275 Sinners Beware 175 in O.E. Misc., Soþliche betere heom were, Þat heo ibore nere. c 1300 Havelok 276 Soþlike, in a lite[l] þrawe, Al Engelond of him stod awe. 1340 Ayenb. 74 Vor huo hier him demþ zoþliche, him ne worþ non hede to by uorlore. 1393 in Collectanea Topogr. (1836) III. 256 We..were confeffes sotheliche in dede sesyd in the Manere of Slaptone. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. lxxvi. (1869) 45 Soothliche litel thei wolden preysen my seyinge. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. ii. 14 Ne soothlich it is easie for to read, Where now on earth, or how he may be found. |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 2552 Our lauerd steuen Sothli till him spak in sueuen. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 364 She wiste sothely he Was forthe vnto his shippes agoon. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) vii. 27 Sothely it es noȝt likly þat þai schold be graues. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xi. 53 Sotheli if eny man vnknowith, he schal be vnknowun. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge 177 Secular prestes expulsed sothely were From diuers monasteries. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. x. 8 For soothly he was one of matchlesse might. 1599 Broughton's Let. vi. 20 And soothly so you meant. 1721 Ramsay To R.H.B. iii, It soothly shaws them they can spare A rowth to spend. 1826 Hood Irish Schoolm. xxvii, So soothly kind is Erin to her own! 1850 Blackie æschylus II. 186 Soothly a worthy deed, a pleasant tale For future years to tell! 1881 Swinburne Mary Stuart iv. iii, I would know soothly if your mind be changed. |
| γ 1375 Barbour Bruce vi. 32 Quhen the Gallowais vist suthly, That he wes with a few menȝhe. a 1400–50 Alexander 1962 Suthely þou knawes, And wete þou wele [etc.]. c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 877 Yhe may nocht wyn ws suthlie, thocht ye bid. c 1550 Rolland Crt. Venus Prol. 13 The thrid clepit is Colerike suithlie. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 105 Quhilk office suthlie can na maner of vayis appertein to wemen. |
b. With say, tell, etc.
| a 1000 Elene 317 (Gr.), Weras..þa me soðlice secgan cunnon. a 1225 Ancr. R. 108 Leorne hit ᵹeorne of him þet tu hit kunne, ant muwe soðliche siggen. c 1275 Lay. 26210 Ne may no man mid mouþe soþliche segge of haluendeal þan folke. 13.. Cursor M. 2398 (Gött.), I can noght say þe sothlier. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6175 Suthly I say yhou, swa yhe wroght. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 341 Whan that oon was deed, sothly to telle, His felawe wente and sought him down in helle. 1426 Audelay Poems 19 Thus sayth Marke sothely. c 1480 Henryson Reas. Death & Man 18 Thay call me deid, Suthly I the declair. 1564 A. Bacon tr. Jewel's Apol. v. i. §3 Soothely to saie, no man..woulde thinke the Jewes lawes..to be newe. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 46 King: mi faith I plight heere, to relate thee veritye soothlye. 1619 H. Hutton Follie's Anat. (Percy Soc.) 3 Of this same point I cannot soothly say. a 1656 Hales Gold. Rem. (1673) 48 He was fain..to crave aid of his Equivocating Sophistry, and soothly to tell them, I have seen your face as the face of God. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. ii. i, Then..home returning, soothly swear Was never scene so sad and fair! 1871 Rossetti Poems, Love's Nocturn viii, Master, is it soothly said That [etc.]? |
† 2. Used to render L. autem, enim, ergo, etc. Obs.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter ii. 6 Ic soðlice ᵹeseted..eam cyning. c 975 Rushw. Gosp. Matt. i. 19 Ioseph soþlice hire wer..ne walde [etc.]. a 1050 Liber Scintill. (1889) 2 Þænne soþlice [L. tunc enim] mann fulfremed ys. a 1300 E.E. Psalter xxxvi. 35 Lauerd soth-like noght lete sal he Him in his hende to be. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xii. 15 Sothely Jhesus witynge, wente awey thennes. c 1460 Eng. Reg. Oseney Abbey (1907) 89 To þe which sothly entente þe forsaide Executours stryffe, saying [etc.]. |