ferforthly

Middle English

Alternative forms

• ferforthliche

Etymology

From ferforth.

Adverb

ferforthly

1. Far; to the extent or degree that

   Synonym: ferforth

2. Completely, thoroughly.
   • 1387–1400, [Geoffrey] Chaucer, “The Knẏghtes Tale”, in The Tales of Caunt́bury (Hengwrt Chaucer; Peniarth Manuscript 392D), Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: National Library of Wales, published c. 1400–1410], →OCLC, folio 14, recto:

     As swooꝛ his ooth / as he was trewe knẏght /
     he wolde doon / ſo ferfoꝛthlẏ his mẏght
     Up on the tiraint Creon / hem to wreke
     That al the peple of Grece sholde speke[...]

     And swore an oath that as he was a true knight he would unleash his strength on Creon so completely, with the aim of destroying him, that all the people of Grece should speak...

   • 1516, Robert Fabyan, Cronicle, Pynson; Reprinted in 1811, Henry Ellis (ed.), The New Chronicles of England and France, London:. "Quinta Pars Cadwalader", p. 127.

     & therewith great hūger & famyne ouer sprad the lande, ẏ by occasyon of one & other, the people of this realme was wonderfully mynysshed, & lassyd so ferforthlye, that, as witnessith Galfryde, & also the Englisshe Cronycle, the quicke bodyes suffysed not to bury the ded.

     And thereupon great hunger and famine spread over the land, and thus by several means the people of this land were greatly diminished, and were lessened so completely that, as Galfyde and the English Chronicle witness, the living were not enough to bury the dead.