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duly

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 13:54. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • US: /ˈduli/[1]

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

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