slowly

Etymology

From Middle English slowly, slowli, slouli, slowliche, from Old English slāwlīċe (“slowly; sluggishly”), equivalent to slow +‎ -ly. Compare Old Norse slæliga, sljóliga.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -əʊli
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsləʊli/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsloʊli/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (UK)

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• Hyphenation: slow‧ly

Adverb

slowly (comparative slowlier or more slowly, superlative slowliest or most slowly)

1. (manner) At a slow pace.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 5, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.