A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1400, 1456
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Ned(e)ly, adv. [ME. (Manning) and e.m.E. nedely, -li, ME. nedlike (c 1330), e.m.E. needly, f. Nede n.: cf. MDu. nodelike, MLG. nôtliken, etc.] Only in Leg. S. and Hay. a. Of necessity, necessarily, inevitably. = Nedis adv. 1. Ned(e)lingis adv. a. b. Imperatively, insistently, pertinaciously, in despite of everything. = Nedis adv. 2, Ned(e)lingis adv. b. —a. a1400 Legends of the Saints ii. 682.
For I ame a man in dowt sted, And nedly fore dede mon be red 1456 Hay I. 250/14.
And all thir thingis ar requerit in bataill nedely 1456 Ib. II. 4/25.
This lyf … behovit nedely tak ane end 1456 Ib. 59/22.
And thus quha will ourcum … suerenes he mon nedely begyn at … fortitude of curageb. a1400 Legends of the Saints ii. 707.
Nedly he wald se the place, quhare-in he consawit wes a1400 Ib. xxi. 370.
Aquila nedly wit wald Quhy thai lucht a1400 Ib. xxvii. 578.
Syne as il men tuk to rede Nedly for til haf hyme dede a1400 Ib. xvi. 403, xxxi. 391, xxxvi. 795.
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"Nedly adv.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/nedely_adv>
