English
thinly
Thinly comes from Middle English þynnelich ‘with thin material’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500þynnelich‘with thin material’
- Englishearliest quotation 1957thinly
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500þynnelich‘with thin material’
- Englishearliest quotation 1957thinly
Earliest quotation: 1957, H. A. Vallance, By Rail to the Norwegian Arctic: “The surroundings become bleak in the extreme as the…”
Formed from thin + -ly
Proto-Indo-European *tenh₂- ‘to stretch’
…
Proto-Germanic *þunnuz ‘thin’
Proto-West Germanic *þunnī ‘thin’
Old English þynne ‘thin’
Middle English thinne ‘thin’
English thin
Every English word from Middle English þynnelich
Today it means
adv In a thin, loose, or scattered manner; scantily; not thickly.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English þynnelich / thinly