worldly

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English worldli, also worldlich,^[2][3][1] inherited from Old English woruldlīċ (“earthly, secular”), also weoroldlīċ,^[3][2][4][1] formed from woruld (“world”) and -līċ (“-ly”),^[4][5][6] from Proto-Germanic *weraldilīkaz.^[1] The OED treats it as a word inherited from Germanic and compares Old Frisian wraldlīk, Old Saxon weroldlīk, Middle Dutch wereltlijc (now wereldlijk), Old High German weraltlīh (now weltlich) and Old Norse veraldligr.^[7][3] The adverb has the same origin, woruldlīce.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or belonging to this world rather than the next, earthly; and secular as opposed to religious: both senses are in Old English, the first in Ælfric's Catholic Homilies,^[7] where Etymonline notes the contrast with "monastic".^[3] Merriam-Webster dates the first sense to before the 12th century.^[4] In the Old English laws woruldlīċ is used of worldly business and of civil as opposed to church law.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the adjective could mean material or corporeal as well as earthly and secular,^[2][3] and Chaucer used it 38 times, for worldly, mortal, physical and secular.^[9] The sense that describes a person absorbed in temporal affairs, especially the pursuit of wealth and pleasure, is recorded from 1340, in the Ayenbite.^[7] Johnson (1755) gave first "secular; relating to this life, in contradistinction to the life to come".^[10] The neutral sense "of the whole world, universal", as in worldly wonder, appeared in 1538,^[7] and the modern sense "sophisticated, experienced in the ways of the world" only in 1829, in J. F. Cooper.^[7] Collins still lists "existing on the earth" as archaic and "secular, lay" as obsolete.^[11] In Scots, warldlie could mean stingy.^[12]

Timeline

• Old English – earthly, of this world rather than the next; secular as opposed to religious.^[7][3]
• 1340 – of a person, devoted to temporal affairs, wealth and pleasure.^[7]
• 1538 – of the whole world, universal (worldly wonder).^[7]
• 1829 – sophisticated, worldly-wise.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to this world and human life on earth, rather than to heaven or the spiritual; earthly, temporal: She left all her worldly goods to the village school.^[11][4][7]
2. Concerned with material things, especially money, success and pleasure: worldly ambitions.^[11][4][7]
3. Experienced in the ways of the world; sophisticated: a worldly diplomat who had served in a dozen capitals.^[11][7]
4. (archaic) Existing on or relating to the earth and its inhabitants.^[11][4]
5. (obsolete) Secular; lay, not clerical.^[11][7]

Adverb

1. (archaic) In a worldly manner; with a worldly purpose.^[11][5][7]

Word family

• worldliness
• unworldly
• worldly-wise
• otherworldly
• this-worldly

Related words

• world

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer
9. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)