Etymology

dearly

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Today it means: In a dear or precious manner. Full definition →

Middle English derely ← Old English dēorlīċe
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromdēorlīċe“worthily, richly”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromderely
  3. English todaydearly

From Middle English derely, deorliche, from Old English dēorlīċe (“worthily, richly”), equivalent to dear + -ly.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.