different between kindly vs polite

English

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?ka?ndli/

Etymology 1

From Middle English kyndely, kyndeliche, from Old English cyndel?? (“natural, kindly”); equivalent to kind +? -ly.

Adjective

kindly (comparative kindlier, superlative kindliest)

1. Having a kind personality; kind, warmhearted, sympathetic.

   • The shade by which my life was crossed […] has made me kindly with my kind.

2. (dated) Favourable, gentle, pleasant, tidy, auspicious, beneficent.
3. (archaic) Lawful.
4. (obsolete) Natural; inherent to the kind or race.

   • the kindly fruits of the earth

   • November 5, 1609, Lancelot Andrewes, A Sermon Preached before the King's Majesty at Whitehall

     Whatsoever as the Son of God he may do, it is kindly for Him as the Son of Man to save the sons of men.

Derived terms

• kindlily
• kindliness
• kindly tenant
• unkindly

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English kyndly, kyndely, kyndeliche, kundeliche, from Old English ?ecyndel??e, equivalent to kind +? -ly.

Adverb

kindly (comparative more kindly, superlative most kindly)

1. In a kind manner, out of kindness.
2. In a favourable way.
3. Used to make a polite request: please.
4. (US) With kind acceptance; used with take.

5. (dialectal) Kind of, somewhat.
6. (archaic) Readily.
7. (obsolete) Naturally.

Usage notes

• (please): Kindly is used in a slightly more peremptory way than please. It is generally used to introduce a request with which the person addressed is expected to comply, and takes the edge off what would otherwise be a command.
• (with kind acceptance): This sense is a negative polarity item; it is usually found in questions and negative statements, as in the above example sentences.

Synonyms

• (in a kind manner): thoughtfully
• (used to make polite requests): be so kind as to, please

Derived terms

• take kindly

Translations

Further reading

• “kindly”, in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary, (Please provide a date or year).

English

Etymology

From Latin pol?tus (“polished”), past participle of poli? (“I polish, smooth”); see polish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p??la?t/

Adjective

polite (comparative politer or more polite, superlative politest or most polite)

1. Well-mannered, civilized.
   • 1733, Alexander Pope, Epistle to Bathurst

     He marries, bows at court, and grows polite.

2. (obsolete) Smooth, polished, burnished.

   • rays of light […] falling on […] a polite surface

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:polite

Antonyms

• impolite
• rude

Derived terms

• over-polite
• politeness
• polite literature
• polite society

Related terms

• polish

Translations

Verb

polite (third-person singular simple present polites, present participle politing, simple past and past participle polited)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To polish; to refine; to render polite.

References

• John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “polite”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN

Further reading

• polite in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• polite in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• piolet, topile

Italian

Adjective

polite f pl

1. feminine plural of polito

Anagrams

• pilote

Latin

Verb

pol?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of poli?

References

• polite in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• polite in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers