English
sadly
Sadly comes from Middle English sadly ‘totally, completely, deeply’, and goes back to sad.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sad
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500sadly‘totally, completely, deeply’
- Englishearliest quotation 1485same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sad
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500sadly‘totally, completely, deeply’
- Englishearliest quotation 1485same form
Earliest quotation: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, iiij: “By my feythe sayd syre launcelot in that pauelione…”
Formed from sad + -ly
Proto-Indo-European *seh₂- ‘to satiate, satisfy’
…
Proto-Germanic *sadaz ‘full, sated’
Proto-West Germanic *sad ‘sated, full’
Old English sæd ‘satisfied, sated, weary’
Middle English sad ‘sated’
English sad
Linked words
through Middle English sad
Today it means
adv In a sad manner; sorrowfully.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English sad / sadly