Etymology

needly

N1E1E1D2L1Y4

Today it means: Zealously; carefully; earnestly. Full definition →

Middle English needely ← Old English nēodlīċe
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needly · adverb1

  1. Old English · inherited fromnēodlīċe“eagerly, earnestly, carefully, zealously, diligently, sedulously; greatly”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromneedely
  3. English todayneedly

From Middle English needely, neodliche, from Old English nēodlīċe (“eagerly, earnestly, carefully, zealously, diligently, sedulously; greatly”); equivalent to need (“desire”) + -ly. Cognate with Old Saxon niudlīko (“zealously, carefully”), German niedlich (“desirable, appealing, lovely, cute”).

needly · adverb2

  1. Proto-Indo-European*neh₂w-
  2. Proto-Germanic*naudiz
  3. Proto-West Germanic*naudi
  4. Old Englishnīed
  5. Middle Englishnede
  6. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  7. Proto-Germanic*līką
  8. Middle Englishnedely
  9. English todayneedly

Inherited from Middle English nedely. By surface analysis, need (“necessity, need”) + -ly (adverbial suffix). Compare Middle Dutch nodelike, Middle Low German nōtliken, Middle High German nōtliche.

needly · adjective3

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)neh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*(s)néh₁tlom
  3. Proto-Germanic*nēþlą
  4. Proto-Germanic*nēþlō
  5. Proto-West Germanic*nāþlu
  6. Old Englishnǣdl
  7. Middle Englishnedle
  8. Englishneedle
  9. English todayneedly

From needle + -y.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.