Stockwell.
ON THE WORD "GRADELY."
Permit me to make a few remarks on the word gradely:—
1. It seems to have no connexion with the Latin noun gradus, Angl. grade, step.
2. Its first syllable, grade, is both a substantive and an adjective; and gradely itself both adjective and adverb, as weakly, sickly, godly, &c.
3. It is not confined to Lancashire or to England, but appears in Scotland as graith (ready), graith (furniture); whence graithly (readily), to graith, grathe, or graid (prepare), &c. See Jamieson's Sc. Dict. and Supplement.
4. It is in fact the Anglo-Saxon gerad, which is both substantive and adjective. As a substantive it means condition, arrangement, plan, reason, &c. As an adjective, it means prudent, well-prepared, expert, exact, &c. The ge (Gothic ga) is merely the intensive prefix; the root being rad or rath. The form in ly (adjective or adverb), without the prefix g, appears in the Anglo-Saxon raedlic, prudent, expert; raedlice, expertly. This interesting root, which appears as re, ra, red, rad, rath, &c.; sometimes by transposition, as er, ar, erd, &c. (perhaps also as reg, rag, erg, arc, &c.), seems to represent the nobler qualities of man: thought, reason, counsel, speech, deliberate action; and perhaps, also, government.
Thus in the Semitic family of languages we have the radicals rââ (saw, foresaw, counselled); râdhâ (helped, ruled); râthâd (arranged); râto (directed, instructed); and others, with their numerous derivatives.
The Indo-European family gives us, in Sanscrit, râ or râe (ponder, experience); rât (speak); râdh (accomplish); râj (excel); râgh (attain, reach); and others, with derivatives. In Greek, rheô (speak), transp. erô or werô (whence verbum, wort, word); rherô or rhedô (do), transp. erdô, also ergô (whence werke, work); archô (rule), and others, with derivatives. In Latin, reor (think), whence ratus and ratio (reason); res (thing, action); rego (rule), with derivatives (rex, regula, rectus, &c.). In Celtic (Welsh), rhe (active); rheswm (reason); rhaith (judgment, right); rhi (prince); rhag (van, before). In Sclavonic, rada, rade (counsel); redian (to direct), &c.