Etymology From low + -ly; compare Middle English lowly.
1
Not high; not elevated in place; low.
And those whom Tiber's holy forests hide, Or Circe's hills from the main land divide; Where Ufens glides along the lowly lands, Or the black water of Pomptina stands.1697, John Dryden, translating Virgil, Aeneid^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Aeneid_(Dryden)):
And I watched you waltz from tree to tree As I slunk in my lowly lair1918, C. J. Dennis, The Chase of Ages:
2
Low in rank or social importance.
One common right the great and lowly claims.1725, Alexander Pope, translating Homer, Odyssey^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Odyssey_(Pope)/Book_VIII):
3
Not lofty or sublime; humble.
Where our apt used to be they built a fancy condominium high-rise. Which at a lowly income none of us could ever really quite afford.2010, David Dondero, Just a Baby in Your Momma's Eyes:
For all who read, and reading, not disdain / These rural poems, and their lowly strain1697, John Dryden, Pastoral VI:
4
Having a low esteem of one's own worth; humble; meek; free from pride.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew xi:29:
Etymology From low + -ly; compare Middle English lowly.
1
In a low manner; humbly; meekly; modestly.
Walking through the park, it wasn't quite dark / There was a man sitting on a bench / Out of the crowd as his head lowly bowed1963, Curtis Mayfield, “Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um”, performed by Major Lance:
2
In a low condition; meanly.
3
At low pitch or volume.
These words were lowly and sweetly murmured in the same way with the word mother, being changefully varied in their modulations, […]1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or The Ambiguities: