Also 4–6 kyng-. [f. KING sb. + -LY1. Not in OE., which had cynelíc royal, kingly; but cf. OFris. kining-, kenenglik, MDu. coninc-, koninglijc (Du. koninklijk), OHG. chuninclîh (MHG. küniclîch, G. königlich), ON. konungligr (Da. kongelig, Sw. kong(s)lig).]
1. Of the nature of a king or kings; royal; of royal rank.
1382. Wyclif, 1 Pet. ii. 9. Ȝe ben a kynde chosun, kyngly presthod, holy folk.
1535. Coverdale, Hos. v. 1. Geue eare, o thou kingly house.
1611. Shaks., Wint. T., III. ii. 167. He … to my Kingly Guest Vnclasp’d my practise.
1618. Lithgow, Pilgr. Farew., in Farr, S. P. Jas. I., 338. Wer’st thou a kinglie sonne, and vertue want, Thou art more brute than beastes.
1652. Sir E. Peyton (title), The Divine Catastrophe of the Kingly Family of the House of Stuarts.
1877. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (ed. 3), I. iii. 108. In every Kingdom there was a kingly house, out of which … alone kings were chosen.
2. Of or belonging to a king; held, exercised or issued by a king; fit or suitable for a king; royal, regal.
1387–8. T. Usk, Test. Love, I. v. (Skeat), l. 126. Dauid that from keping of shepe, was drawen vp in to the order of kingly gouernaunce.
c. 1430. Life St. Kath. (1884), 29. Lettres seled wyth his kyngly ryng.
1535. Coverdale, Esther i. 19. Yf it please the kynge, let there go a kyngly commaundement from him.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., I. xviii. 20 b. Governours … did chase them away with al the other kinglie officers.
1601. Shaks., Jul. C., III. ii. 101. I thrice presented him a Kingly Crowne, which he did thrice refuse.
1780. Cowper, Table-Talk, 174. Leave kingly backs to cope with kingly cares.
a. 1826. Heber, Hymn. The Son of God goes forth to war, A kingly crown to gain.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xvii. IV. 42. Whether the magistrate to whom the whole kingly power was transferred should assume the kingly title.
b. Of government: Monarchical.
1658. 2nd Narr. Late Parl., in Select. fr. Harl. Misc. (1793), 421. To change the government from kingly to parliamentary.
1676. Towerson, Decalogue, 232. Aristotle … was no friend of the kingly government.
1835. Thirlwall, Greece, I. vi. 163. The kingly form of government appears to have been the only one known in the heroic age.
1899. Daily News, 8 May, 8/4. [Mommsen’s] conclusions regarding capital punishment in Kingly, Republican, and Imperial Rome.
3. Having the character, quality or attributes of a king; kinglike; dignified, majestic, noble. Of persons, their actions, etc.
1593. Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., V. i. 29. I am farre better borne then is the king: More like a King, more Kingly in my thoughts.
1605. Play Stucley, 2138, in Simpson, Sch. Shaks. (1878), I. 243. What a high spirit hath this Englishman He tunes his speeches to a kingly key.
a. 1618. Raleigh, Prerog. Parl. (1628), 5. There is nothing more kingly in a king, then the performance of his word.
1687. Dryden, Hind & P., III. 881. A generous, laudable, and kingly pride.
1858. Hawthorne, Fr. & It. Jrnls., II. 28. The possession of this kingly look implies nothing whatever as respects kingly and commanding qualities.
fig. 1853. Kane, Grinnell Exp., xlix. (1856), 461. The kingly bergs began their impressive march.
1877. Tennyson, Harold, III. i. 79. The kingliest Abbey in all Christian lands.
