duly

Etymology

It is formed from English due + -ly.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Middle English forms were duweliche, about 1380, and duli, before 1395;^[7] Merriam-Webster gives dueliche, from dewe (“due”) and -liche (“-ly”).^[8] The adjective due is from Anglo-Norman dew and Old French deü, the past participle of devoir (“to owe”),^[2][9] from Latin dēbeō (“to owe”),^[5][9] which is formed from dē- (“away”) and habeō (“to have”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rightly, properly, as is due: about 1380, as duweliche, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius,^[7][5] and in 1382 in the Wycliffite Bible.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In 1393, in Gower's Confessio Amantis, it also meant "adequately, sufficiently",^[2] and before 1513, in Fabyan's chronicle, "at the due time".^[2] Johnson (1755) gave the senses "properly; fitly; in the due manner" and "regularly; exactly", quoting Shakespeare's Henry VIII ("words duly hallow'd") and Pope.^[6] Modern dictionaries give the senses "properly, as is fitting" and "at the expected time, punctually".^[10][8]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – duweliche, rightly, properly.^[7][5]
• 1382 – in the Wycliffite Bible.^[2]
• 1393 – adequately, sufficiently.^[2]
• before 1513 – at the due time.^[2]
• 1755 – Johnson adds "regularly; exactly".^[6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In the proper or expected way; as is right: The forms were duly signed and witnessed.^[10][8][2]
2. At the proper or expected time; punctually: The taxi duly arrived at seven.^[10][8][2]
3. To the proper degree; adequately or sufficiently.^[8][2]

Word family

• unduly

Related words

• due
• debt
• debit
• undue

Usage notes

A rare noun duly, recorded from 1674, is a form of dulia, the veneration given to saints, and is not the same word.^[2]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
7. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins