seldomly

English

Etymology

From Middle English seldomly; equivalent to seldom + -ly.

Adverb

seldomly (comparative more seldomly, superlative most seldomly)

  1. (rare, sometimes proscribed) Seldom; rarely.
    • 1864, Ellen L. Biscoe Hollis, The Winthrops, page 265:
      the universally felt, yet seldomly acknowledged truth []
    • c. 1864, Emily Dickinson, ‘So set its sun in thee’, Poems:
      So I the ships may see / That touch how seldomly / Thy shore?
    • 1999, Philip Greenspun, Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing:
      Very seldomly will you need to store email addresses or names that are anywhere near as long as 100 characters.
    • 2011, Bart D. Ehrman, The Reliability of the New Testament, p. 132:
      Additionally, orthographic variants only very seldomly affect the text itself.

Usage notes

  • Sometimes proscribed in favor of the more common seldom, itself an adverb.
  • At COCA seldom occurs more than 5,000 times; seldomly 12. It is even rarer in the BNC.

Middle English

Etymology

From seldom (uncommon, adjective) + -ly.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈseːldəmliː/

Adjective

seldomly

  1. (rare) seldomly; seldom.

Descendants

References

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