skilfullyadv.
/ˈskɪlfʊli/ a. Reasonably; with good reason; naturally.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > [adverb]
with reasonc1300
skilfullyc1325
skillwiselya1340
skilfula1400
reasonablyc1400
of reason1405
in reasona1450
upon reasonc1450
reasonfully1532
justlya1538
rationablya1540
reasonally1567
reasonable1573
as soon (as)1579
rationally1610
to reason1613
rational1662
correctlya1704
rightly1703
upon the weight of1710
legitimately1794
well-foundedly?1841
tarblish1842
sanely1884
c1325 Metr. Hom. 46 Ful schilfuli and wit resoun Mai men ask this questioun.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 6 Me may zuerie wyþ-oute zenne,..in oþre guode skele and clenliche and skeluolliche.
c1386 G. Chaucer Second Nun's Tale 320 Men myghten dreden wel and skilfully This lyf to lese.
c1400 N. Love tr. Bonaventura Mirror Life Christ (1908) 176 Who so wole..byholde how oure lorde Jesu wepeth,..skilfully he may be stired to compassioun and wepynge.
1412–20 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy iv. 3198 As deth for deth is skilfully guerdoun.
a1500 (a1475) G. Ashby Dicta Philosophorum l. 403 in Poems (1899) 60 To..ly not for his profett in suche guise That it shuld harme any man skilfully.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > moderateness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb]
meetlyOE
better?c1225
measurelyc1350
renablyc1350
measurablya1382
skilfullya1387
meanlya1398
moderatelya1398
temperately1398
reasonablyc1400
faira1413
mean1535
competently1541
meanably1577
tarblish1842
mediumly1852
quite1854
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 35 He techeþ alle men to be skilfulliche scars.
a1400 Minor Poems from Vernon MS xxxvii. 553 Þerfore I rede..Þat vche Mon skilfuli of his god [= good] mak him glad.
c1430 Chev. Assigne 47 She sente aftur a man..That hadde serued her-seluen skylfully longe.
c1450 Two Cookery-bks. 101 Drawe it thorgh a streynour skilfully thik.
2.
a. In a skilful manner; with skill; cleverly, adroitly, dexterously.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [adverb]
craftilyeOE
craftlyOE
hagherlyc1175
hendc1275
craftfully?c1335
taughtlya1382
craftiouslyc1450
handsomely1528
finely1538
skilfully1565
artfully1608
peritely1657
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Scienter, cunnyngly: skilfully.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost ii. i. 254 Thou art an old Loue-monger, & speakest skilfully . View more context for this quotation
1631 W. Gouge Gods Three Arrowes v. §6. 414 Choice persons are instructed..wisely to encampe, and skilfully to embattaile.
1695 Ld. Preston tr. Boethius Of Consol. Philos. i. 16 Thou didst skilfully read upon all Divine and Humane Learning.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 229 The one being laid against the other so skilfully, that there is a just equipoise of the whole globe.
1839 G. P. R. James Louis XIV I. 105 He skilfully availed himself of those threats to pretend that his life was in danger.
1861 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1873) II. viii. 547 The scheme, secretly prepared, was skilfully accomplished.
b. With past participles used attributively.
ΚΠ
1821 W. M. Craig Lect. Drawing iv. 245 In a skilfully executed picture.
1848 T. A. Buckley tr. Homer Iliad 164 I rushed forth, having burst the skilfully-joined doors.
1863 C. Lyell Geol. Evid. Antiq. Man 11 The more skilfully worked weapons of a later stage of the same period.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adv.c1325