piteouslyadv.

c1300 St. Edmund Rich (Harl.) 251 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 500 (MED) So pitousliche he wolde rede & so gode grace hadde þerto Þat his scolers..ofte hudde here eȝe & wepte.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1965) Ecclus. xliii. 37 Alle thingis forsoþe þe lord made, & to men pitousli [a1425 L.V. feithfuli; L. pie] doing he ȝaf wisdam.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) Titus ii. 12 The grace of God..hath apperid to alle men, techinge..vs that we..lyue sobreli and iustli and piteuously in this world.

c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 9 (MED) For he þat besyeþ him to lyue pitously, he worschipeþ Holy Writ and reprehendeþ noþyng þat he vnderstondeþ noght: and þat is to be meke.

1520–40 MS Rawl. C813 in Anglia 31 326 She was injoyned in London opynlye to doo hur penaunce. And soo full petyously she itt perfformed.

c1520 M. Nisbet New Test. in Scots (1903) II. Titus ii. 12 That we..leue sobirlie, and iustlie, and piteouslie in this warlde.

c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) 1427 (MED) The Pope and his Cardinals that seȝe him wepe so sore..wope also pitousliche [a1325 Corpus Cambr. pitesliche].

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 5607 King Edmund atte laste..Pitosliche [a1400 Trin. Cambr. v.rr. Pitouliche, Piteuousliche, Pyteously] was aslawe.

c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. i. 78 Þanne I..Preiȝede hire pitously [c1400 B text pitousely; c1400 C text pytosly; v.r. mekly] preiȝe for my sennes.

a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) 1540 (MED) An angelle come hym to & askede of hym somme gode fulle petwysly.

1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. xv. f. xxj^v My doughter is pytiously vexed with a devyll.

?1531 J. Frith Disput. Purgatorye ii. sig. f6^v They are pituously deceaved that will proue purgatorye by the textes of the olde testament.

1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus v. i. 66 Ruthfull to heare, yet pitteously performde. View more context for this quotation

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 376 He murdered most piteously so many good citizens.

1683 London Jilt i. sig. E5 Thereupon I began to weep so pitiously, as Women cry for the most part when they please.

1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 281 He could not stand, or speak, but groan'd most piteously.

1769 E. Burke Observ. Late State Nation 3 It is piteously doleful, nodding every now and then towards dulness.

1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) v. 45 Little Paul began to cry most piteously.

1882 P. Schaff et al. Relig. Encycl. I. 193/2 His German poetry is piteously poor.

1914 M. Sinclair Three Sisters xxiii. 103 She was writhing piteously in the trap.

1998 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 3 Dec. 13 Two minutes..[is] a piteously small amount of time for them to give regional news and weather.

2003 Leader-Post (Regina, Sask.) (Nexis) 19 July g3 Dogs whine piteously when left alone.

c1390 in C. Horstmann Minor Poems Vernon MS (1892) i. 47 His precious blod ful gret plente Fful piteuously for me was schedde.

c1390 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 835 Hir litel child lay wepyng in hir arm, And knelyng pitously to hym she seyde, ‘Pees, litel sone, I wol do thee noon harm.’

c1450 tr. Secreta Secret. (Royal) 17 Thou must chese a man þat is good and trewe..to whom thou commytte thi governaunce of thi sugetis, and that he governe hem pitously and in loue.

c1475 (c1445) R. Pecock Donet (1921) 90 (MED) How mercyful..how piteuosely..how louyngli and how myȝtly god wrouȝte and dide to hise peple.

a1500 St. Brendan's Confession (Lamb.) 388 in Geibun-Kenkyu (1968) 25 21 (MED) As þou art ful of pyte, þou wilt it be do piteuousli.

1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lxiii. 6 Three score piteouslie lookt, as they thant wold saue.

1827 T. Hood Plea Midsummer Fairies cx, in Plea Midsummer Fairies & Other Poems 56 'Tis these befriend the timid trembling stag..And prompt fresh shifts in his alarum'd ears, So piteously they view all bloody morts.

1855 P. J. Bailey Mystic 20 His poor and ignorant kin..He piteously remembered ere he passed.