A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1375-1475, 1535
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Frely, a. [ME. frely, fre-, freoliche, OE. fréolic.] Noble, goodly, handsome, beautiful. (Used only in poetry.)The phrase frely fode and the absol. use occur also in ME. poetry. 1375 Barb. iii. 578.
Men mycht se mony frely fute About the costis thar lukand a1400 Legends of the Saints xxvii. 192.
Of hyre wit sche ȝed nere wod For sorrow of that frely fud c1420 Wynt. vii. 584.
Syne Saxon and the Scottys blude Togyddyr is in yhon frely fwde, Dame Mald, oure Qwene c1450-2 Howlat 308.
Thai fand him in a forest frely & faire c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace v. 653.
Gret desyr remaynyt in till his mynd For to behald that frely off fassoun 1535 Stewart 174.
Rycht fair of face and frelie of fassoun, … he wes
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"Frely adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/frely_adj>
