divinely

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English divine

Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der.

Proto-Germanic *līkąder.

Proto-Germanic *-līkaz

Proto-Germanic *-ê

Proto-Germanic *-līkê

Proto-West Germanic *-līkē

Old English -līċe

Middle English -ly

English -ly

English divinely

From divine + -ly.

Pronunciation

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Adverb

divinely (comparative more divinely, superlative most divinely)

1. In a divine manner.
   • 1832, Various, The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 19,‎^[1]:

     And od'rous trees in prodigal array, With all the elements divinely calm

   • 1893, John Davidson, “St Valentine’s Eve” in Fleet Street Eclogues, London: Elkin Mathews & John Lane, p. 20,^[2]

     And brooding thus on my ephemeral flowers

     That smoulder in the wilderness, I thought,

     By envy sore distraught,

     Of amaranths that burn in lordly bowers,

     Of men divinely blessed with leisured hours,

   • 1894, A. J. Gordon, The Ministry of the Spirit‎^[3]:

     Both the scribe and the Scripture, both the man of God and the word of God were divinely inbreathed.

   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 40:

     […] And many an old philosophy
     ⁠On Argive heights divinely sang,
     ⁠And round us all the thicket rang
     To many a flute of Arcady.

   • 1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, chapter 2, in Anne of Green Gables‎^[4]:

     Which would you rather be if you had the choice—divinely beautiful or dazzlingly clever or angelically good?"

   • 1997 August 16, PRINCESSPK, “Re: Opinions wanted for magazine article”, in alt.showbiz.gossip‎^[5] (Usenet):

     I tried that once in an AOL thing called "The Arena", I can't remember who the celebrity was, but I posed some divinely thoughtful, inspired, well-crafted questio

Derived terms

• undivinely