ruly · adjective1
- Old English · inherited fromhrēowlīċ“grievous, pitiful, sad, wretched, cruel”
- Middle English · inherited fromrewly
- English todayruly
From Middle English rewly, ruly, rewely, reweliche, from Old English hrēowlīċ (“grievous, pitiful, sad, wretched, cruel”), equivalent to rue + -ly.
ruly · adverb2
- Old English · inherited fromhrēowlīċe“cruelly”
- Middle English · inherited fromrewly
- English todayruly
From Middle English rewly, reoly, reowliche, from Old English hrēowlīċe (“cruelly”), equivalent to rue + -ly.
ruly · adjective3
- Old French · derived fromrulé
- Middle English · inherited fromrewly
- English todayruly
Back-formation from unruly, or perhaps a continuation of Middle English rewly, ruly, reuli (“subject to a religious rule, regular”), equivalent to rule + -ly, rule + -y; or perhaps from Old French rulé, reulé, rieulé (“ruled”), past participle of rieuler (“to rule”). More at rule.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.