Etymology

freely

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Today it means: Free; frank. Full definition →

Middle English frely ← Old English frēolīc
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freely · adjective1

  1. Old English · inherited fromfrēolīc“free, freeborn, glorious, stately, magnificent, noble, beautiful, charming”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromfrely
  3. English todayfreely

From Middle English frely, freelich, from Old English frēolīc (“free, freeborn, glorious, stately, magnificent, noble, beautiful, charming”), equivalent to free + -ly. Compare Middle Low German vrilik, vrigelik (“free”), Middle High German vrīlich (“free”).

freely · adverb2

  1. Old English · inherited fromfrēolīċe“freely, readily, as a festival”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromfrely
  3. English todayfreely

From Middle English frely, freliche, from Old English frēolīċe (“freely, readily, as a festival”), equivalent to free + -ly. Compare Dutch vrijelijk (“freely”), German freilich (“certainly, of course”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.