selfly

S1E1L1F4L1Y4
/ˈsɛlfli/

adjective

Of or pertaining to self or one's own self, personal.

OriginMiddle English selfly ← Old English selflīċ →
Scrabble 12
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Meanings

adjectiveselfly (comparative more selfly, superlative most selfly)

comparative more selfly · superlative most selfly

  1. Of or pertaining to self or one's own self, personal.

    This denotes and declares the divided tongues, where every property had brought itself forth out of the universal sensual tongue into a selfishness and a peculiar selfly understanding, so that they did not any longer understand one another […]

    2001, Jed Rasula, Steve McCaffery, Imagining Language: An Anthology
adverbselfly (not comparable)
  1. not comparableIn, of, or by one's self; of one's own accord, voluntary, automatic.

    Thy gloomy Front, that selfly hath no light

    1880, Josuah Sylvester, The complete works of Joshuah Sylvester

Origin

  1. Old Englishselflīċ“automatic, spontaneous, voluntary”
  2. Middle Englishselfly
  3. Englishselfly

From Middle English selfly, from Old English selflīċ (“automatic, spontaneous, voluntary”); equivalent to self + -ly.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

selfly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/selfly

MLA

“selfly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/selfly. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “selfly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/selfly.

Source: selfly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.