Forms: see KIND. [OE. ʓecyndelíc, f. ʓecynde, KIND + -líc, -LY1.]
I. Pertaining to nature or birth.
† 1. Natural, in various senses. Obs. a. That is, exists or takes place according to natural laws; consonant or congruent with nature; natural, as opposed to artificial; KIND a. 1 a.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxix. § 1. Hwy ne maʓon ʓe ʓebidon ʓecyndelices deaðes.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., I. 90. Swa þæt þæt blod ne mæʓ hys ʓecyndelican ryne habban.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 964. Hit is aȝein riht, and aȝein leaue of euch cundelich lahe.
a. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 1686. Bodily ded, þat is kyndely, Es twynyng betwene þe saule and þe body.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), iii. 10. Þai say also þat fornicacion es na dedly bot a kyndely thing. Ibid., xviii. 82. Simulacres er ymages made to þe liknes of sum thing þat es kyndely.
1496. Dives & Paup. (W. de W.), I. xlvii. 88/2. It is a kyndly thynge in somer tyme to thondre.
a. 1547. Surrey, Æneid, IV. 929. Neither by lot of destiny Nor yet by kindly death she perished.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts (1658), 130. The whole estate of kindly hunting consisteth principally in these two points, in chasing the beast that is in hunting, or in taking the bird that is in fowling.
† b. Implanted by nature; innate; inherent in the nature of a person or thing; = KIND a. 1 b.
971. Blickl. Hom., 7. Seo ʓecyndelice hætu … ʓestilleþ on þe.
c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 2003. Þe dede fra a man his mynd reves And na kyndely witte with hym leves.
1480. Caxton, Descr. Brit., 14. It accordeth better to kendly reson.
1587. Golding, De Mornay, i. 9. To loue company, and to clad himself…, (which things wee esteeme to be verie kindlie).
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. iii. 28. The earth shall sooner leave her kindly skil To bring forth fruit … Then I leave you.
1607. Shaks., Timon, II. ii. 226. ’Tis lacke of kindely warmth, they are not kinde.
† c. Naturally belonging to or connected with a person or thing; own, proper, suitable; = KIND a. 1 c. Const. for, to. Obs.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xiv. § 2. Þincð him ʓenoʓ on … þam fodre þe him ʓecyndelic bið.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1912. Þe beist thoght selcut-li god Þat þai hade raght þair kindle fode.
1387–8. T. Usk, Test. Love, Prol. (Skeat), l. 36. Lette frenchemen in their frenche also enditen their queinte termes, for it is kyndely to their mouthes.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 2412. Thou shalbe wisest of wit … And know all the conyng, þat kyndly is for men.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, XIX. x. Here we muste begynne at kynge Arthur, as is kyndely to begynne at hym that was the moost man of worshyp … at that tyme.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, III. (1627), 350. Doe you not know that daintinesse is kindly vnto vs?
1647. Ward, Simp. Cobler, 69. Ropes and hatchets are not the kindliest instruments to set it.
1674. N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 79. The kindliest attribute of time, which is successiveness in abiding.
1725. Bradley, Fam. Dict., s.v. Cheese, The Season of the Year denies a kindly Drying or Hardening thereof.
† 2. That belongs to one by birth; native; hereditary; = KIND a. 2. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 3914 (Gött.). To wend into þair kindly land.
1413. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton), IV. xxxviii. (1859), 64. He hadde thus oppressyd his owne kyndely peple of his owne countre.
1536. Bellenden, Cron. Scot. (1821), II. 314. It pertenit to him be kindly heritage.
1572. Satir. Poems Reform., xxx. 201. King Roboam … tynt his kyndlie Trybes ten.
a. 1670. Spalding, Troub. Chas. I. (1850), I. 3. James erll of Moray … had cassin them out of thair kyndlie possessions quhilk (past memorie of man) their predicessoris and they had keipit.
† b. Existing between kinsfolk. Obs. rare–1.
1567. Satir. Poems Reform., iv. 6. Traisting with ane … Quha was the ruite quhair of I did spring, In honour to liue be kyndelie allyance.
3. Having a right to one’s position in virtue of birth or descent; rightful, lawful (= KIND a. 3 a). Of children: Lawfully born, legitimate. Of a tenant (Sc.): Holding a lease of land that his ancestors have similarly held before him: such a tenant usually held his land on favorable terms, and the name was also extended to others admitted as tenants on similar conditions.
c. 900. trans. Bæda’s Hist., III. viii. (1890), 172. Þæs ylcan cyninges ʓecyndelice dohtor.
c. 1275. O. E. Misc., 90. Crist, kundeliche kyng, cuþ þu þi mayht Rihtwise louerd.
c. 1425. Eng. Conq. Irel., 12. Trywly with hym for to hold frome þat tym forward, as har kyndly lord.
1513. More, Rich. III., Wks. 67/2. As though the killing of his kinsmen could … make him a kindly king.
1548. Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. v. 44. To be the kyndely children of the heauenly father.
1563. Sc. Acts Mary, c. 13. Na kyndlie lauchfull possessour tennent or occupyar of ony of the saidis Kirk landis be remouit fra thair kyndelie rowme.
1600. Rental, in Orig. Paroch. Scot. (1851), I. 517. [The teinds of the parish of Lintoun] quhairof my Lord of Mortoun is kyndlie takisman.
1773. Erskine, Inst. Law Scotl., II. vi. § 37. A rental is a particular species of tack, now seldom used, granted by the landlord, for a low or favourable tack-duty, to those who are either presumed to be lineal successors to the ancient possessors of the land, or whom the proprietor designs to gratify as such and the lessees are usually styled rentallers, or kindly tenants.
1816. Scott, Old Mort., vii. Your service is not gratuitous—I trow ye hae land for it. Ye’re kindly tenants.
1879. W. E. Hearn, Aryan Househ., 73. He must be a genuine or kindly son … one born in lawful marriage.
transf. 1786. Mackenzie, Lounger, No. 87, ¶ 4. It was tenanted by kindly daws and swallows.
b. Native-born; = KIND a. 3 b. arch.
1820. Scott, Monast., iii. God keep the kindly Scot from the cloth-yard shaft, and he will keep himself from the handy stroke.
a. 1833[?]. Otterburn, in Child, Ballads, III. 300. Let never living mortal ken That ere a kindly Scot lies here.
II. Characterized by good nature.
4. Of good nature or natural qualities; excellent of its kind; of a good sort; in good condition, thriving; goodly. Cf. KIND a. 4. arch. or dial.
Quot. 1548–9 is doubtful; some take it in sense 1.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), vii. 26. Balme þat es kyndely and gude es riȝt clere and ȝalow.
1541. R. Copland, Galyen’s Terapeut., 2 A iij b. It behoueth than that the sayd flesshe be kyndely.
1548–9. (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Litany, To geue and preserue to our use the kyndly fruytes of the earth.
1574. R. Scot, Hop Gard. (1578), 9. The good and the kindely Hoppe beareth a great and a greene stalke.
1697. Dampier, Voy. (1729), I. 419. The fattest and kindliest Beef, that I did ever taste.
1772. Ann. Reg., 106/2. What the graziers call a kindly sheep; one that has always an inclination to feed.
1772–84. Cook, Voy. (1790), IV. 1222. There is a large plain … producing a thick, kindly grass.
1887. S. Chesh. Gloss., Kindly,… healthy. ‘My plants binna very kindly.’
5. Of persons: Having a friendly benevolent disposition; kind-hearted, good-natured. Hence also of character, feelings, actions, etc. Cf. KIND a. 5.
1570. Levins, Manip., 100/14. Kyndly, benignus.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., II. v. 78. Melt Egypt into Nyle; and kindly creatures Turne all to serpents.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 411. Nor cou’d his Kindred, nor the kindly Force Of weeping Parents, change his fatal Course.
1797–1803. J. Foster, in Life & Corr. (1846), I. 242. How much kindly-friendly softness of heart.
1842. Barham, Ingol. Leg., Wedding-day. Your father was a kindly man.
1871. R. Ellis, Catullus, lxv. 9. Ah! no more to address thee, or hear thy kindly requital!
1889. Jessopp, Coming of Friars, ii. 89. Those legacies … were left by kindly people a century or two ago.
b. transf. and fig. Of things, esp. of the weather, climate or soil: Genial, benign; favorable to growth or for a particular crop.
1655. Fuller, Ch. Hist., III. vi. § 44. In a kindly spring, bite it bare over night, next morning the grass will be grown to hide a wande therein.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., I. 29. You, who swell those Seeds with kindly Rain.
1699. Dampier, Voy., II. I. 25. This [Rice] serves them for Bread-corn; and as the Country is very kindly for it, so their Inhabitants live chiefly of it.
1732. Pope, Ess. Man, II. 275. Behold the child, by Nature’s kindly law, Pleas’d with a rattle.
1789. G. White, Selborne, i. (1853), 14. A kind of white land … neither fit for pasture nor for the plough, but kindly for hops.
6. Acceptable, agreeable, pleasant, genial. In later use, of conditions, influences, etc., blending with 5 b.
1382. Wyclif, Lev. iv. 7. Of moost kyndli encense to the Lord.
1600. Shaks., A. Y. L., II. iii. 53. Therefore my age is as a lustie winter, Frostie, but kindely.
1696. Whiston, The. Earth, IV. (1722), 359. The Heat in the one, and the Cold in the other, were more kindly.
1828. Carlyle, Misc., Burns (1872), II. 5. The kindliest era of his whole life.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., c. But each has pleased a kindred eye, And each reflects a kindlier day.
1854. Mrs. Oliphant, Magd. Hepburn, III. 41. Standing before the kindly hearth.
III. 7. Comb., as kindly-dispositioned, -hearted, natured adjs.; † kindly-born a., native; kindly-like adv. in a manner suggesting kind feeling.
1413. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton), IV. xxxviii. (1859), 64. Nought only straungeours, but also the kyndely borne men of this same land.
1716. Wodrow, Corr. (1843), II. 136. [They] never carried more friendly and kindly-like than they did.
1859. Tennyson, Enid, 514. So spake the kindly-hearted Earl.
1871. Smiles, Charac., viii. (1876), 227. It is the kindly-dispositioned men who are the active men of the world.
