adv, adj — 4 senses
/ˈniːd.li/
Etymology From Middle English needely, neodliche, from Old English nēodlīċe (“eagerly, earnestly, carefully, zealously, diligently, sedulously; greatly”); equivalent to need (“desire”) + -ly. Cognate with Old Saxon niudlīko (“zealously, carefully”), German niedlich (“desirable, appealing, lovely, cute”).
Archaic Zealously; carefully; earnestly.
/ˈniː.dəl.i/
Etymology From needle + -y.
Informal Like a needle or needles.
Etymology From Middle English needely, nedelich, from Old English *nīedlīċe (“necessarily”), from nīedlīc (“necessary”); equivalent to need (“necessity, need”) + -ly. Merged with Etymology 1 above. Cognate with Middle Dutch nodelike, Middle Low German nōtliken, Middle High German nōtliche.
Archaic Necessarily; of necessity.
Archaic Urgently.
Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.