bely

English

Etymology 1

Noun

bely (plural belies)

1. Obsolete spelling of belly

Etymology 2

Verb

bely (third-person singular simple present belies, present participle belying, simple past and past participle belied or belyed)

1. Obsolete spelling of belie
   • 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility‎:

     This woman of whom he writes—whoever she be—or any one, in short, but your own dear self, mama, and Edward, may have been so barbarous to bely me.

   • 1871, Catullus, The Poems and Fragments of Catullus‎:

     So he'll quickly devour the way, if only He's no booby; for all a snowy maiden Chide imperious, and her hands around him Both in jealousy clasp'd, refuse departure. 10 She, if only report the truth bely not, Doats, as hardly within her own possession. 3.

   • 1918, J. Arthur Gibbs, A Cotswold Village‎:

     And here it may be said that Tom Peregrine's name did not bely him.

   • 1985, William Gaddis, chapter 3, in Carpenter's Gothic, page 64:

     ... the cool grey calm of his eyes belying... belying? She found the dictionary under the telephone book, sought for bely and could not find it.

Anagrams

• Bley, Blye, bley

Middle English

Alternative forms

• beli, baly, belwe, balyw, belgh

Etymology

From Old English bælg, from Proto-West Germanic *balgi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛliː/

Noun

bely (plural belies)

1. belly

Descendants

• English: belly, ballow, bellows
• Scots: belly, bally
• Yola: bellee, belooze

References

• “belī, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.