A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1400, 1500-1606, 1661
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Lif(e)-, Lyfly, -lie, Lyv(e)lie, adv. Also: levelye.[ME. lifly (14th c.), lyf(e)-, lyvely, e.m.E. lively, OE. líflíce.] In lively fashion: briskly, nimbly, promptly; vivaciously, vividly; clearly, plainly. — c1400 Troy-bk. ii. 1932.
Pallamydes … tuke of baith hois & schone … And lyflie to the well can found c1500-c1512 Dunb. iv. 74.
Merseir … That did in luf so lifly [B. lyfly] write, So schort, so quyk, of sentence hie 1570-3 Bann. Trans. 47.
Mr Andro Symsone minister … did so lyvlie rype foorth the inward cogitationes of my hert 1558-66 Knox I. 62.
In the which [religious play], all thingis war so levelye expressed, that the verray sempill people understood and confessed 1606 Forbes Rec. 522.
A birth indeid fitlie and lyvelie representing the father [etc.] 1661 Black Sc. Witches 38.
He sieth lyvelie to his apearrance Jennot Coke sitting by him
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"Lyfly adv.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/lyfly>
