kindly

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkaɪnd.li/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English gecyndelīc (“natural, innate, lawful”), cyndelīc,^[2][3] from gecynd, nature, kind (see kind), and -līc (see -ly).^[2][3] The adverb is Old English gecyndelīce, naturally.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Natural, in accordance with the laws of nature, about 888;^[5] innate, from 971;^[5] rightful by birth, about 900.^[5] The Old English word also meant pertaining to generation, as in cyndlim, womb.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Trench noted that kindly once implied nothing moral: it was simply the adjective of kind, nature.^[6] Pleasant or agreeable is from the late 14th century,^[2] and full of loving courtesy, the main modern sense, from the 1560s.^[2] The adverb developed in parallel: naturally (about 1200), then pleasantly, with kind feelings, from the mid-13th century.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 888 – natural.^[5]
• c. 900 – rightful by birth.^[5]
• mid-13th century – kindly (adverb), gladly.^[2]
• late 14th century – pleasant.^[2]
• 1560s – full of loving courtesy.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of a sympathetic, helpful or benevolent nature.
2. Pleasant or agreeable: a kindly climate.
3. (archaic) Natural; lawful.

Adverb

1. In a kind manner; out of kindness.
2. Please, in a polite or often ironic request: will you kindly sign this.
3. take kindly to: to accept readily.

Word family

• kindliness
• seakindly
• unkindly

Related words

• kind
• kin
• kindness

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker