-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

Don Calixto was a man that made phrases and ornamented them with many adverbs ending in -ly.

From Cæsar or Nothing by How, Louis

The fact that a word ends in -ly does not make it an adverb.

From An English Grammar by Sewell, James Witt

At present they appear derivative; their termination -ly having no separate and independent existence.

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

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