Word.ws English Dictionary

otherly

otherly adjective: pertaining to something or someone else; different.

Adjective

otherly (comparative more otherly, superlative most otherly)

  1. Pertaining to something or someone else; different.
    • As against this "otherly" and warlike definition, there occurs and recurs, both in the public relations literature and in the serious discussion of policy, a more "brotherly" and peaceful set of themes, parallel to those which permit [...]1989, John R. Seeley, Community chest: a case study in philanthropy
    • [...] sense of cultural pride, we have become fixated on the only apparent characteristic that labels us as otherly.2000, Phoebe Eng, Warrior Lessons: An Asian American Woman's Journey Into Power
  2. Pertaining or directed toward others; otherish.
    • He has no needs or wants that are not met within the eternal community of otherly love known as the triune Godhead of Father, Son, and Spirit. God doesn't need us.2011, Ed Cook, Just a Thought

Adverb

otherly (comparative more otherly, superlative most otherly)

  1. (nonstandard) Otherwise; differently.

Forms of otherly

Adjective
comparativemore otherly
superlativemost otherly
Adverb
comparativemore otherly
superlativemost otherly

Origin of otherly

From other + -ly.

From Middle English otherliche, from Old English ōþerlīċe (“otherwise, differently”), equivalent to other + -ly. Cognate with Old Saxon ōþarlīk, Old High German andarlīh, Icelandic annarligur, Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌸𐌰𐍂𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍉 (anþarleikō, “otherwise”).

Words formed from otherly

Questions about otherly

What does otherly mean?
Otherly means pertaining to something or someone else; different.
What part of speech is otherly?
Otherly can be an adjective or an adverb.

Words near otherly in the dictionary

  1. otherliness
  2. otherling
  3. otherlings
  4. otherlink
  5. otherlinks
  6. otherly
  7. otherly abled
  8. othermother
  9. othermothers
  10. otherness
  11. othernesses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: otherly (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “otherly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/otherly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.