mortally en · ADV
Pronunciation
Etymology
From Middle English mortally, equivalent to mortal + -ly.
Meanings
-
Fatally; in such a way as to cause death.
Sir Philip Sidney, soldier, courtier, statesman and poet, was born at Penshurst in 1554. He won imperishable fame 32 years later at the Battle of Zutphen in Holland when, mortally wounded, he refused a drink of water and passed his flask to a wounded soldier, with the words: 'Thy necessity is yet greater than mine.'
1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 313:
-
(obsolete) As a mortal.
And all the depth of rightfull doome was taught / By faire Astræa with great industrie, / Whilest here on earth she lived mortallie […]
1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more mortally | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most mortally | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |