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Origin and history of kindly

kindly(adj.)

c. 1200, cundelich, "natural, right, lawful," from Old English gecyndelic "natural, innate; in accordance with the laws or processes of nature, suitable, lawful" (of birth, etc.); see kind (adj.) + -ly (1). From late 14c. as "pleasant, agreeable;" from 1560s as "full of loving courtesy." Related: Kindliness. The Old English word also meant "pertaining to generation," hence cyndlim "womb," in plural "genitalia," literally "kind-limb."

also from c. 1200

kindly(adv.)

c. 1200, cundeliche, "natively, congenitally; according to nature," from Old English gecyndelice "naturally;" see kind (adj.) -ly (2). From mid-13c. as "pleasantly, gladly, with kind feelings, in a kind manner." Also in Middle English, "by birth or descent; in the approved manner, properly" (late 14c.).

also from c. 1200

Entries linking to kindly

kind(adj.)

"friendly, deliberately doing good to others," Middle English kinde, from Old English (ge)cynde "natural, native, innate," originally "with the feeling of relatives for each other," from Proto-Germanic *kundi- "natural, native," from *kunjam "family" (see kin), with collective or generalizing prefix *ga- and abstract suffix *-iz. The word rarely appeared in Old English without the prefix, but Old English also had it as a word-forming element -cund "born of, of a particular nature" (see kind (n.)). Sense development probably is from "with natural feelings," to "well-disposed" (c. 1300), "benign, compassionate, loving, full of tenderness" (c. 1300).

unkindly(adv.)

c. 1200, unkindeli, "unsuitably, improperly, in a manner not befitting one's nature or status," from un- (1) "not" + kindly (adv.). By late 13c. especially as "with unnatural disregard for one's parents." From early 14c. as "indecently, in a manner contrary to natural moral law." From mid-15c. as "discourteously, maliciously." Related: Unkindliness.

-ly(1)

suffix forming adjectives from nouns and meaning "having qualities of, of the form or nature of" (manly, lordly), "appropriate to, fitting, suited to" (bodily, earthly, daily); irregularly descended from Old English -lic, from Proto-Germanic *-liko- (Old Frisian -lik, Dutch -lijk, Old High German -lih, German -lich, Old Norse -ligr), related to *likom- "appearance, form" (Old English lich "corpse, body;" see lich, which is a cognate; see also like (adj.), with which it is identical).