Notes & Queries Archive
REPLY1850

GRADELY

By AREDJID KOOEZ.

This word is not only used in Yorkshire, but also very much in Lancashire, and the rest of the north of England. I have always understood it to mean "good," "jolly," "out and out." Its primary meaning is "orderly, decently." (See Richardson's *Dictionary*.) The French have *grade*; It. and Sp., *grado*; Lat. *gradus*.

Topics: Linguistics, Etymology

Locations: Yorkshire, Lancashire, north of England