needly

From Middle English needely, neodliche, from Old English nēodlīċe (“eagerly, earnestly, carefully, zealously, diligently, sedulously; greatly”); equivalent to need (“desire”) +‎ -ly. Cognate with Old Saxon niudlīko (“zealously, carefully”), German niedlich (“desirable, appealing, lovely, cute”).

needly (comparative needlier or more needly, superlative needliest or most needly)

1. (archaic) Zealously; carefully; earnestly.

From Middle English needely, nedelich, from Old English *nīedlīċe (“necessarily”), from nīedlīc (“necessary”); equivalent to need (“necessity, need”) +‎ -ly. Merged with Etymology 1 above. Cognate with Middle Dutch nodelike, Middle Low German nōtliken, Middle High German nōtliche.

needly (comparative needlier or more needly, superlative needliest or most needly)

1. (archaic) Necessarily; of necessity.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

2. (archaic) Urgently.

From needle +‎ -y.

needly (comparative needlier or more needly, superlative needliest or most needly)

1. (informal) Like a needle or needles.

   a needly horn; a needly beard

   (Can we find and add a quotation of R. D. Blackmore to this entry?)

• acicular

• Leyden, leyned