Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

headly

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.41 in modern English

Syllables: head-ly
IPA

13

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Chief; principal; capital; (of sins) deadly.

Archaic

adj

Heady; violent; impetuous.

Archaic

Example Sentences

"O'er blows the filthy and contagious clouds / Of headly murther, spoil, and villainy."

Etymology

From Middle English hedly, havedlich, from Old English hēafodlīċ (“at the top, principal, capital, deadly”), equivalent to head + -ly. Cognate with West Frisian haadlik, Dutch hoofdelijk, Middle Low German hö̂vetlī̂k, Middle High German houbetlich (archaic German hauptlich). Piecewise doublet of chefly and chiefly.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: hedly, hēafodlīċ
Suffix: head

Usage

Archaic

Inflected Forms

more headly (comparative) most headly (superlative)

Questions

What does headly mean?: Chief; principal; capital; (of sins) deadly.
Where does headly come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce headly

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “headly”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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