a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Psalms vi. 10 The Lord ful out herde my louli preȝing [L. deprecationem meam].

1447–8 in S. A. Moore Lett. & Papers J. Shillingford (1871) ii. 132 Y, John Shillynford..byseke yow yn the lowlokyst wyse..that [etc.].

c1450 (c1375) G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 142 She to him so louly was and trewe.

c1450 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Rawl.) (1869) B. xiv. l. 227 For loulich he loketh and loueliche is his speche.

a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) l. 21034 Yiff thow do to myn Image Lowly worshepe and homage.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ix. l. 46 Wallace, on kne with lawly obeysance.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Micah vi. 8 To be lowly, and to walke with thy God.

1596 Raigne of Edward III sig. I4^v Copland..with a lowly minde, Doth vale the bonnet of his victory. View more context for this quotation

a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iii. i. 98 'Twas neuer merry world, Since lowly feigning was call'd complement. View more context for this quotation

1659 H. Hammond Paraphr. & Annot. Psalms (cl. 3 Annot.) 719/1 Without the lowlyest posture of the body.

1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 18. ⁋3 The Pope has written to the French King on the Subject of a Peace, and his Majesty has answered in the lowliest Terms.

1781 W. Cowper Truth 93 God accounts him proud; High in demand, though lowly in pretence.

1859 Friend of Youth & Child's Mag. Aug. 256 This evening, let us seek to bow, Almighty Father! at Thy throne, And bring a lowly heart, for Thou Acceptest that, and that alone.

1891 H. R. Haggard Eric Brighteyes vi. 93 So Groa stayed on at Middalhof, and was lowly in her bearing and soft of speech.

1915 A. S. Neill Dominie's Log vi. 66 I am just enough of a Nietzschean to protest against teaching children to be meek and lowly.

2000 M. H. Greene Scriptural Temple vi. 77 Striving to feel after Him with the spiritual discipline of a lowly heart, through fasting and prayer.

c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Knychthede (1993) iii. 16 Forthy dois a king..grete wrang..quhen he makis othir schireffis baillies or prouostis of othir lawlyar men na knychtis.

1598 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 3 Last Bks. v. iii. 74 The red Hat that tries the lucklesse mayne, For welthy Thames to change his lowly Rhene.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iii. vii. 47 As lookes the Mother on her lowly Babe, When Death doth close his tender-dying Eyes. View more context for this quotation

1637 J. Milton Comus 12 Courtesie..Is sooner found in lowly sheds.., Then in tapstrie halls.

1658 W. Davenant Cruelty of Spaniards in Peru 14 Kings who move Within a lowly sphear of private love, Are too domestick for a Throne.

1713 Countess of Winchilsea Misc. Poems 77 A lowly Cottage..Fenc'd by a Stubble-roof, from Rain and Heat.

1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 141 All the comforts that the lowly roof Of undisturbed retirement..knows.

1791 J. Learmont Poems Pastoral 278 I'd sit fu' happy i' my lowly ben.

1807 W. Wordsworth Poems I. 140 Thy heart The lowliest duties on herself did lay.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. iii. 23 I put up at a very lowly inn.

1871 G. V. Smith Bible & Pop. Theol. xi. 116 They remembered the origin of Jesus and saw his lowly condition.

1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest IV. xviii. 143 The sons of Harold who were within the walls of Exeter came of a lowlier and doubtful stock.

1904 Westm. Gaz. 25 Mar. 1/3 Four of the cannon..now fill the lowly if useful rôles of kerb-posts and lamp-posts.

1994 Catech. Catholic Church 569 Two movements usually alternate with one another: the first ‘magnifies’ the Lord for the ‘great things’ he did for his lowly servant.

2000 Scotsman (Nexis) 5 Sept. 10 A lowly PC with Celeron processor, 64 megabytes of RAM. That's enough to word process, do spreadsheets, run databases, finance and office matters.

1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. July f. 26 What ho, thou iollye shepheards swayne, come vp the hyll to me: Better is, then the lowly playne, als for thy flocke, and thee.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II ii. iv. 21 Thy sunne sets weeping in the lowly west. View more context for this quotation

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage v. xvii. 458 The Earth diuersified in aspiring Hills, lowly Vales, equall and indifferent Plaines.

1695 W. Congreve Mourning Muse Alexis 5 As lofty Pines o'ertop the lowly Reed, So, did her graceful Height, all Nymphs exceed.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Pastorals iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 17 Lowly Shrubs and Trees that shade the Plain, Delight not all.

1715 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad I. ii. 638 Those who dwell..where Boägrius floats the lowly Lands.

1744 J. Thomson Spring in Seasons (new ed.) 21 Where purple Violets lurk, With all the lowly Children of the Shade.

1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xxv. 355 Restharrows are lowly kinds of shrubs, or rather undershrubs, with purple flowers.

1853 J. G. Whittier Chapel of Hermits & Other Poems 34 In lowliest depths of bosky dells The hermit Contemplation dwells.

1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xxvii. 225 And the sun, albeit from a lowly altitude, shone out in full brightness.

1917 Harvard Illustr. 20 Mar. 322 The American eagle..is roosting on the lowly supine tree.

1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 55 This proud Letter, of the lowly Lady Davers..Lowly, I say, because she could stoop to such vain Pride.

1803 Poet. Reg. 1802 (ed. 2) 98 You shall not need to join the reptile brood, Of aims as base and lowly as their blood.

1843 G. P. R. James Forest Days III. iv. 68 His name was never stained with any lowly act.

1908 Contemp. Rev. Sept. 329 Alas! the theatre's pedigree is base and lowly.

1977 J. Fuchs tr. Horace Satires & Epist. i. 4 When lowly lust has swollen up their veins, young men do right in coming here instead of grinding wives not theirs.

2008 K. Bowden-Cox Honorable Deception i. 18 He had never done such a lowly deed before.

1851 Chambers's Papers for People No. 62. 5 Man he supposed to be produced from minute and lowly forms of life, spontaneously generated in the moist earth when exposed to the heat of the sun.

1869 C. Darwin Origin of Species (ed. 5) iv. 145 The continued existence of lowly organisms offers no difficulty.

1876 City-Road Mag. Jan. 44/2 There can be very little doubt that lowly forms can exist..at temperatures not much below 150° Fahr.

1886 A. Geikie Class-bk. Geol. xv. 293 The progress of life from its earliest appearance in lowly forms of plant or animal has been continuous.

1912 Q. Rev. Apr. 528 The most conspicuous physical features in Europe..had no existence when these lowly organisms lived and died.

1927 H. Peake & H. J. Fleure Apes & Men 13 Birds first appear in the Jurassic system, while traces of lowly mammals have been found from the Trias onwards.

2009 I. James in J. M. Smith & J. Quenby Intelligent Faith 282 If an oxygen rich atmosphere was toxic to certain lowly species, it made possible a huge range of new species.

1534 G. Joye tr. U. Zwingli Dauids Psalter xxii. f. 31 The lowely [L. mites] shal ete and be satisfied, thei shal prayse the Lorde and seke him, thei mought lyue for euer.

1611 Bible (King James) Prov. iii. 34 Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giueth grace vnto the lowly . View more context for this quotation

1670 R. Baxter Life of Faith (new ed.) iii. xv. 461 Nothing is avoided by the lowly as a shame, but that which is displeasing to God, and disagreeable to his Christian duty.

1785 T. Dwight Conquest of Canäan v. 116 For know, fair Prince! in Truth's unbiass'd state, The proud are little, and the lowly great.

1847 Church Eng. Mag. 20 Nov. 329/2 To the penitent, the lowly, and the believing are forgiveness and salvation promised.

1862 E. B. Ramsay Christian Life 253 Sincere followers of the Lord Jesus Christ—the pure in heart—the humble and the lowly who fear God.

1916 Vanity Fair May 81/2 (heading) Parking Spaces for the Meek and Lowly.

2006 N. S. Muyskens Curtain is Torn xii. 127 You will have..experienced the miracle of gentleness and lowliness of heart. The lowly have nothing to boast about.

1547 W. Baldwin Treat. Morall Phylos. i. x. sig. C.vii^v When Esop..asked hym what Iupiter dyd, he answered: he mekeneth the myghty and exalteth the lowelye.

1609 J. Davies Humours Heau'n on Earth 14 O! how it rapts the Eie of Maiestie, To see all downe-cast vnderneath her feete; That may, if please her, march vpon the Hie, Till she with none, but with the Lowly meete.

1662 Duchess of Newcastle Orations Divers Sorts xiv. 276 We that have Pull'd down the Nobles, and have Advanc'd the Lowly, Inriched the Poor, and Impoverished the Rich.

1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey II. viii. 600 Say..what the name you bore..(For from the natal hour distinctive names, One common right, the great and lowly claims..).

1773 H. Mackenzie Man of World II. v. 43 A young lady, of her figure, did not disdain to visit affliction, even amongst the poor and the lowly.

1852 H. B. Stowe (title) Uncle Tom's cabin; or, life among the lowly.

1880 S. G. Cooke Politics & Schools 15 The lowly are raised toward the refinement of the wealthy, while they in turn are saved from overweening vanity and pride of position by discovery that the lowly are intellectually, and may become socially, their equals.

1913 Survey 9 Aug. 612/1 In the dark and filthy hovels of the poor and lowly, crime and disease enter unafraid and unchallenged.

1980 Signs 5 557 A correspondent with notables and lowlies.

2009 I. Thomson Dead Yard v. 66 He made himself champion of Jamaica's dispossessed: the lowly sweating out their lives on the cane fields, at the Kingston docks,..on banana farms, without rights, without tenure.

1809 P. B. Shelley in K. N. Cameron Shelley & his Circle (1970) IV. 1018 Over thy lowly built sepulchre bending.

?1546 Godly Medit. sig. C.vii^v That I maye bee lowlye hearted, humble minded, gentyl spyryted, and to all vertues obedyente.

1660 S. Patrick Jewish Hypocrisie xxiii. 350 They account it a greater attainment to be a speaker in a congregation, then to be humble and lowly-hearted.

1790 G. Wakefield Addr. to Right Rev. Dr. Samuel Horsley 21 The lowly-hearted imitator..of his Master, the Son of God.

1850 Harper's Mag. Aug. 325/1 Wish rather, Esbern, that Heaven may make her a pious, lowly-hearted maid.

1990 Port Neches (Texas) Midcounty Chron. 14 Apr. 2 a/4 They found a meek and lowly-hearted Nazarene who seemed to be more interested in giving the blind their sight.

1565 B. Googe tr. ‘M. Palingenius’ Zodiake of Life (new ed.) ix. sig. KK.viii^v No proude man loues the Gods aboue, nor is beloued of them: For God estemes the humble sort and lowly minded men.

a1662 H. Lawes Treasury of Music (1669) 36 Though lowly minded, I will stand With such for place, and at no rate Give Rebell Lovers th'upper hand.

1787 J. Berington Hist. Lives Abeillard & Heloisa i. 47 When all that was great and elegant in the provinces was seen hurrying into arms, he must have been lowly-minded, truly, who could have been contented to have staid at home.

1888 Scots Observer 8 Dec. 72/2 What place but Kirktown has a provost at once so high-souled and so lowly-minded that his recent knighthood does not make him despise the shop?

1993 R. Rambuss Spenser's Secret Career (1999) i. 13 While it is true that the highly-placed Algrin has been ‘shamed’, even the lowly-minded Thomalin avoids condemning him for his careerist aspirations.

1627 H. Scudder Christians Daily Walke i. xii. 268 The Graces are..Selfe denyalle, Humility, and lowly mindednesse.

1721 J. Perry Glory Christ's Visible Kingdom 233 Valleys are Low Places, and so may signifie the Humility and Lowly-mindedness that the People of God will be filled with at that time.

1859 T. P. Thompson Audi Alteram Partem II. lxxxvii. 57 The stamp of lowly-mindedness.

1902 J. L. Spalding Socialism & Labor iv. 77 The virtues of mildness, mercy, serviceableness, chastity, and lowly-mindedness were considered weaknesses and defects.

2010 L. T. Johnson Writings of New Test. (ed. 3) xv. 330/2 They are, rather, to have toward each other an attitude of humble- or lowly-mindedness.

1797 R. Southey Poems 78 Even now I see The lowly lovely dwelling!]

1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in Enoch Arden, etc. 60 She—so lowly-lovely and so loving.

c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Knychthede (1993) vii. 46 Quhen ony knycht has his hert failit, and his corage lawlyit.

1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. 512 Louyng to God Almycht, Hes lawleit him so far to schaw the rycht Of this tirrane quhilk wes oure prince and king.

1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1848/2 [Ld. John Fleming] Were not the charge I present,..I should lowly my person to meet you sixe English miles from any other person.

1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie xxi. 125/1 Wee see howe God lowlieth himselfe and stoopeth to our rudenesse.

1860 H. Keddie Wearing Willow xii. 239 You ken my mother was lowlied, and took up her head with a schoolmaster—he was not a gentleman.

c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) l. 1384 (MED) So wele his strok he sett Þat his heued fram þe bodi flei; He ȝede him laweliche neye.

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. i. sig. N2 A pleasant dale, that lowly lay Betwixt two hils.

1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. B5^v Make their brisk sprights to lout and lowly lowr?

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 200 Yee that in Waters glide, and yee that walk The Earth, and stately tread, or lowly creep. View more context for this quotation

a1729 E. Taylor Metrical Hist. Christianity (1962) 432 Thou..didst account Thy fellow Hell-Hounds did to lowly mount Their Murdering Pieces.

1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 663 Some clothe the soil that feeds them, far diffused And lowly creeping.

1795 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 788 Where the blue-bell and gowan lurk, lowly, unseen.

1811 A. Scott Poems (new ed.) 144 Auld Reekie stands sweet on the east sloping dale,..An' leuchly lurks Leith, where the trading ships sail.

1870 R. R. Coverdale Poems (new ed.) 39 'Neath towery trees that lowly bent.

1946 T. H. White Mistress Masham's Repose xxvii. 220 The time was nearly one o'clock in the morning, so that Sagittarius the Archer was lowly crossing the meridian.

2007 J. R. Chiles God Machine xv. 252 The daily challenge was to fly lowly and slowly enough that he and his observer..could see what they needed to see without getting shot down.

Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 314 Lowely, or softe yn voyce, submisse.

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. John xxi. 117 He aunswereth sincerely..but timerously and very lowlye withal.

1585 J. Dee Jrnl. in True & Faithful Relation Spirits (1659) i. 365 I hear..a whistling very basely or lowly.

1605 A. Munday tr. G. Affinati Dumbe Divine Speaker 228 (note) Of such as knowe not how to speake lowlie.

1678 I. Brown Vnerrable Church xii. 181 They relent in this attack, and speak but lowly of it in corners.

1719 G. Sewell Epist. from Hampstead 6 Lowly I sing in legendary Lays..'Till Fortune shall our social Nights renew.

1810 P. B. Shelley Zastrozzi iv. 32 He sometimes spoke lowly to himself.

1813 Fingal i. 14 Many a lowly-breathed sigh Spake many a vanquished soul.

1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 133 A maiden sat in her lonely bower, Sadly and lowly singing.

1863 T. Woolner My Beautiful Lady 95 What are thou whispering lowly to thy babe, O wan girl-mother?

1904 Donahoe's Mag. Nov. 466/1 The lowly-breathed prayers of those about you..inspire you to greater devotion.

1913 Boys' Life July 16/3 He even spoke lowly, so as not to waken others.

2010 J. O'Connor Ghost Light (2011) vii. 120 ‘Way to God, you gowl,’ scoffed another lad, whispering lowly to his girl.

1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. vi. 344 The Pensions were but bare Penny-Rent, whilst Abbey-Lands were lowly rated farre beneath their true valuation.

1773 J. B. Becket Ess. on Electr. ii. 64 One of the chains fixed to the outside the phial, the other to the electrometer—the phial being but lowly charged.

1839 Penny Mag. 14 Sept. 355/2 A loss which was lowly estimated at 1,320,000l. sterling.

1870 G. Rolleston Forms Animal Life 30 The walls of the lung are but very lowly vascular.

1920 G. A. Schreiner Craft Sinister xv. 360 Nine crackers were not to be valued lowly in those days.

1933 Chicago Tribune 15 Mar. 15/4 New ways to glorify the most homely and lowly priced of them [sc. cuts of meat] into company dishes.

1954 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 17 Apr. 57 (advt.) Rare records sold, lowly priced.

2010 M. Baas Imagined Mobility i. 4 They were all taking up lowly-paid jobs.

1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xiv. 63 They always think highly of the beloved Object, and lowly of themselves.

1796 Parochial Disc. xix. 262 Each individual..is admonished in the gospel to think lowly of his own merits.

1852 H. Newland Lect. Tractarianism ii. 68 ‘Why,’ said he [sc. Robert South], ‘the High Church are those who think highly of the Church, and lowly of themselves; the Low Church are those who think highly of themselves, and lowly of the Church.’

1890 Dublin Rev. 24 238 When we read of the daring deeds of Frobisher and Cavendish..we feel proud of them and think lowly of ourselves.

1906 Outing Jan. 470/1 The man who cannot kill quail sent out over broom-sedge, has cause to speak lowly of his skill.

1987 Financial Times 28 May 48/8 As a means of diversifying out of such a lowly-rated core business, financial services has certainly justified itself in terms of profits.

2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 8 Aug. a10/4 I think very highly of Billy Bulger and very lowly of the guy who gave him the business, the governor.

1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. iii. 19 Tis better to be lowly borne, And range with humble liuers in Content, Then to be perk'd vp in a glistring griefe, And weare a golden sorrow. View more context for this quotation

1742 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Odes ii. xx. 285 For know, ye Rivals of my Fame, Though lowly born, a vulgar Name, I will not condescend to die.

1872 E. W. Robertson Hist. Ess. 234 We may long look in vain for the name of a lowly-born man amongst the Roman magistracy.

1963 M. I. Gerhardt Art of Story-telling iv. 136 She reminds us somewhat of the European Griselda, but without the cowering humility of the lowly-born wife.

2005 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 13 May 21 Jonathan Rhys-Meyers plays a lowly-born tennis coach who gets in with a group of nice aristos.

1833 Trans. Provinc. Med. & Surg. Assoc. 1 341 The anatomical qualities of the cornea may sometimes interfere with, and impede the development of the small-pox pustule, when it takes place in that lowly organized part.

1919 Forest & Stream Jan. 26/1 A luxuriant growth of tussock grass, which was swarming with those minute and lowly-organized insects, the ‘springtails’ or Collembola.

2001 Utopian Stud. 12 146 Inevitable evolutionary slant..led him to regard a highly organized system as overcoming a number of lowly organized ones along the way.