Dictionary

countessly en · ADJ

Etymology

From countess + -ly.

Meanings

1. (rare) Of or befitting a countess.
   • His second daughter, a blooming girl of seventeen, pure from the dissipations of London, being on the eve of becoming a Countess, with all the accessories of countessly dignity:—dress, diamonds, opera boxes, and courtly distinction. 1838, C[atherine] F[rances] Gore, “Mary Raymond”, in Mary Raymond, and Other Tales, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], chapter VI, page 66:
   • He’d been sure he’d get one of her countessly summonses the evening following their midnight drive. 2000, Stephanie Laurens, A Secret Love, Avon Books, →ISBN, page 193:
   • Meanwhile, the beautiful Cassini was consoling Cissy, with countessly wisdom. 1987, Gore Vidal, Empire, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, page 380:
   • When the ball was at its height the countess cast a countessly eye over the floor and noticed that there were more people there than she had counted on. 1928 July 28, C. B. Pyper, “Al. In the Dark”, in The Winnipeg Evening Tribune, volume XXXIX, number 180, Winnipeg, Man., page 9:
   • In Bielostock I put up at the “Hotel of Countess Mielnicki.” Only in Poland do you find these countessly hotels. The countess is a considerable landed proprietor and she keeps the hotel in order that she may there sell the estate eggs. 1915 February 14, Byron Lomax, “Behind the Russian Lines in Poland”, in The Kansas City Star, volume 35, number 150, Kansas City, Mo., section “The Countess and the Jews”, page 6C, column 4:

Forms