-ly

American  

1. a suffix forming adverbs from adjectives: gladly; gradually; secondly.

2. a suffix meaning “every,” attached to certain nouns denoting units of time: hourly; daily.

3. an adjective suffix meaning “-like”: saintly; cowardly.

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-ly ¹ British  

suffix

1. having the nature or qualities of

   brotherly

   godly

2. occurring at certain intervals; every

   daily

   yearly

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-ly ² British  

suffix

1. in a certain manner; to a certain degree

   quickly

   recently

   chiefly

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ly ³ British  

abbreviation

1. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

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Etymology

Origin of -ly

Middle English adverb -li, -lich(e), Old English -līce ( -līc adjective suffix + -e adverb suffix); Middle English adjective -li, -ly, -lich(e), Old English -līc (cognate with German -lich ), suffixal use of gelīc “similar to, like”; see origin at like ¹

Example Sentences

And below is a list of most common -ly adverbs by author.

From Slate • Nov. 21, 2013

Again, many words without -ly have the same form, whether adverbs or adjectives.

From An English Grammar by Sewell, James Witt

The older language, however, shows that they are compounds; since -ly is nothing else than -lic, Anglo-Saxon; -lih, Old High German; -leiks, Mœso-Gothic; = like, or similis, and equally with it an independent separate word.

From A Handbook of the English Language by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)

Also adverbs ending in -ly are not ordinarily made into compound modifiers: nicely kept lawn, securely guarded treasure. b.

From The Century Handbook of Writing by Greever, Garland

The adverbs in -ly are likely to go to the wall in the not too distant future for this very reason and in face of their obvious usefulness.

From Language An Introduction to the Study of Speech by Sapir, Edward