Adjective
(comparative selier, superlative seliest)
- (archaic) spiritually favored, blessed, holy, virtuous, righteous
- (archaic) worthy, noble, fine, excellent;
- (archaic) fortunate, lucky, prosperous
- (archaic) happy, pleasant
- (archaic) wealthy (figurative)
- (archaic) innocent, harmless; good
- (archaic) simple, guileless; foolish, gullible; doting; ignorant
- (archaic) weak, helpless, defenseless, hapless
- (archaic) wretched, unfortunate, miserable, pitiable
- (archaic) humble, lowly, poor
- (archaic) worthless, trifling, insignificant
Origin
from Middle English sely, from Old English sǣliġ (“blessed, fortunate”), (also gesǣliġ (“happy, prosperous, blessed, fortunate”)), from Proto-Germanic *sēlīgaz (“happy”), equivalent to seel + -y. Cognate with West Frisian sillich, Dutch zalig (“blessed”), German selig (“blessed, overjoyed”).
