adv.
WA spacly
'readily, willingly, quickly'
(Modern English )Formed on the ME adj. < the ON adj. represented by OIcel spakr 'gentle, wise' (see spakest (adj.) and spak (adv.)); cp. OIcel spakliga (adv.) 'peaceably, wisely'. This root does not occur elsewhere in Gmc, but a connection with the same Indo-European base as Croatian paziti 'to give heed to' is often suggested.
PGmc Ancestor
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
spakr (adj.) 'gentle, wise', cp. spakliga (adv.) 'peaceably, wisely'
(ONP spakr (adj.), cp. spakliga (adv.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Far spakur, Icel spakur, Norw spak, ODan spak, Dan spag, OSw skaper, Sw spak; cp. MSw spaklika, Sw spakliga
OE Cognate
Phonological and morphological markers
Summary category
B1
First cited by MED and OED3 from c1325 In a fryht (Hrl 2253); most instances are from alliterative poetry. The adj. occurs earlier, from a1225(?a1200) Trin.Hom. (Trin-C B.14.52) in texts and possibly from 1197 in the surname <Spakeman> and survives in N dial of MnE (EDD, OED).
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Cl 755; Pat 338; Erk 335; WA 786, 2975