different between lightly vs palely

English

Alternative forms

• lighty (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English lyghtly, li?tliche, lihtliche, from Old English l?ohtl??e, equivalent to light +? -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?la?tli/

Adverb

lightly (comparative lightlier or more lightly, superlative lightliest or most lightly)

1. In a light manner.

   • Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."

Derived terms

• take lightly

Translations

References

• lightly at OneLook Dictionary Search
• lightly in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Etymology

pale +? -ly

Adverb

palely (comparative more palely, superlative most palely)

1. In a pale manner; lightly.
   • 1819, John Keats, "La Belle Dame sans Merci", stanza 1,

     O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, / Alone and palely loitering? / The sedge has withered from the lake, / And no birds sing.

   • 1907, Anne Douglas Sedgwick, A Fountain Sealed, Chapter, [1]

     The people are palely prosperous. They lead monotonous lives.

   • 1921, John Dos Passos, Three Soldiers, Part Two, [2]

     It was a warm dark night of faint clouds through which the moon shone palely as through a thin silk canopy.

Translations