selfly

Of or pertaining to self or one's own self, personal.

Adjective

  1. Of or pertaining to self or one's own self, personal.
    • This denotes and declares the divided tongues, where every property had brought itself forth out of the universal sensual tongue into a selfishness and a peculiar selfly understanding, so that they did not any longer...

Origin

From Middle English selfly, from Old English selflīċ (“automatic, spontaneous, voluntary”); equivalent to self + -ly.

Forms

more selfly most selfly

Adverb

  1. In, of, or by one's self; of one's own accord, voluntary, automatic.
    • Thy gloomy Front, that selfly hath no light - 1880, Josuah Sylvester, The complete works of Joshuah Sylvester: