seemly
adverb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L199127 on Wikidata ↗adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L340243 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈsiːmli/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English semly, semely, semelich, from Old Norse sœmiligr (“seemly”); equivalent to seem + -ly. Cognate with Icelandic sæmilegur (“seemly, passable”), Danish sømmelig (“seemly”).
- Of behavior, appropriate; suited to the occasion or purpose; becoming.
“His behavior was seemly, as befits a gentleman.”
“I am a woman, lacking wit / To make a seemly answer to such persons.”
adv
Etymology: From Middle English semly, semely, semelich, from Old Norse sœmiligr (“seemly”); equivalent to seem + -ly. Cognate with Icelandic sæmilegur (“seemly, passable”), Danish sømmelig (“seemly”).
- Appropriately, fittingly.
“The great earthes wombe they open to the sky, / And with sad Cypresse seemely it embraue [...].”