used to form adverbs denoting usual or repeated action or state <always at home Sundays> <mornings he stops by the newsstand>
Hmm. Yes, the examples, I have no problem with. Although I’m not sure how this would relate to ‘unawares’, it not being a ‘usual or repeated action or state’ (my bold). Just my take, though, and I’m probably off track.
““Presently” seems to have evolved from an archaic definition that meant “at once.””
Sounds good too. But ‘at once’ and ‘soon’ or ‘in a short while’ are a bit different, aren’t they?
Try the American Heritage Dictionary, which is better for etymologies and usage.
-s[sup]3[/sup]suff. Used to form adverbs: They were caught unawares. He works nights. [Middle English -es, -s, genitive sing. suff., from Old English -es.]
(Nothing there about frequentative or habitual action. The genitive is the same as what we now call the possessive, ending in -'s.)
pres·ent·ly (prez´@nt-le) adv.1. In a short time; soon: She will arrive presently. 2.Usage problem At this time or period; now: *He is presently staying with us. 3.Archaic At once; immediately.
Usage Note An original meaning of presently was “at the present time; currently.” That sense is said to have disappeared from the literary language in the 17th century, but it has survived in popular usage and is widely found nowadays in literate speech and writing. Still, there is a lingering prejudice against this use. The sentence General Walters is . . . presently the United States ambassador to the United Nations was acceptable to only 50 per cent of the Usage Panel in the late 1980s.
According to the Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology, “The sense of immediately is first recorded in Lydgate’s Minor Poems (about 1430), and that of the weakened sense of in the time that follows shortly, soon, before 1566.”
What Barnhart seems to be implying is that the near future is thought of as just an extension of the present moment. Which reminds me of a guy who used to like saying “I’ll see you in the very near now.”
He has become quite rich since I saw him last. We don’t communicate, since he was such a jerk. His ex-wife and I are good friends, since they have long since been divorced.
So here’s a word that means “after,” “because,” and “before.” What gives?
I wish the airlines would discover the word “presently” as opposed to “momentarily”. The idea of leaving the ground for only a moment is not something I like to contemplate.
Well, yes…I’d seen that. What I’d like to know is, at what point did it move from gratitude (which I believe was the original meaning) to assignment of responsibility. And why?