Etymologically
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worldly

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈwɜː(ɹ)ldli/[1]

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
  • 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)