Godlie

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Devout and pious in religious belief and conduct, an archaic or Scots spelling of the word meaning reverent toward God
2. Reverent toward the divine and faithful in worship, as an older spelling that appears in Scots and early English writing
3. Showing deep piety and devotion to God, an old variant form of the adjective now usually spelled with a y

Etymology: "Godlie" is an archaic spelling of "godly," an adjective built from the noun "god" and the suffix "-ly," which in Old English (as "-lic") turned a noun into an adjective meaning "having the qualities of" or "like." So the word literally means "god-like," and its sense has always been tied to the divine and to devout piety. The spelling with "ie" is a later variant that appeared in Middle English and remained in use into the early modern period, when printers and writers, including the translators of the King James Bible era, still wrote it this way at times. The "-ie" ending was one of several competing spellings for the "-ly" sound, and it fell out of standard use as spelling became more regularised. Today "godlie" survives mainly in older texts and deliberate archaism.