adv. Also 4–6 -ifly, -ifely. [orig. a variant of the earlier ENTENTIVELY, assimilated to L. attentè; in later usage f. ATTENTIVE + -LY2. Cf. aphet. TENTIVELY.] With attention; with steady application of mind, energies or senses; with careful consideration; observantly, heedfully.
1382. Wyclif, Joshua xxii. 5. That ȝe kepen attentifly [Vulg. attente] … the maundement.
1477. Earl Rivers (Caxton), Dictes, 39. The wyseman thenketh on the wele of his saule … attentyuely.
1659. Gentl. Call. (1696), 2. A Manual … frequently and attentively perused.
1790. Boswell, Johnson (1848), 228/2. He listened to it very attentively.
1876. Green, Short Hist., vi. § 4 (1882), 312. The physical aspects of society were cared for as attentively as its moral.
