unstablyadv.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈsteɪbli/, U.S. /ˌənˈsteɪb(ə)li/ In an unstable manner; unsteadily.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > [adverb] > tottering > in an unstable manner
unstablya1380
unfirmly1633
unsteadily1817
shakily1863
a1380 Eufrosyne 390 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 178 I stunte, I stonde, vnstabli I stalke.
14.. Wyclif's De Ecclesia (1851) p. xiii But her þenken trewe men þat þe fend failiþ her, & goiþ vnstably [v.r. unstable] bi two weies.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 367/2 Onstabylly, instabiliter.
?1504 W. Atkinson tr. Thomas à Kempis Ful Treat. Imytacyon Cryste (Pynson) iii. xix. 212 He standeth casually and vnstably that castith nat all his busynes in the.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Instablement, vnstably, vnsteadily.
1654 J. Ellistone & J. Sparrow tr. J. Böhme Mysterium Magnum lxxvi. 579 As Adam suddenly and unstablely therein, departed from his Glory.
1830 E. B. Pusey Hist. Enq. ii. 109 Others, who are unstably ‘halting between the two opinions’.
1879 W. Thomson & P. G. Tait Treat. Nat. Philos. (new ed.) I: Pt. i. §351 A particle placed on the inner circle..would move perpetually in that circle, but unstably.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adv.a1380