Kindly, a. [Compar. Kindlier; superl. Kindliest.]
Etymology: [AS. cyndelic. See Kind, n. ]
1. According to the kind or nature; natural. [R.] The kindly fruits of the earth. Book of Com. Prayer. An herd of bulls whom kindly rage doth sting. Spenser. Whatsoever as the Son of God he may do, it is kindly for Him as the Son of Man to save the sons of men. L. Andrews.
2. Humane; congenial; sympathetic; hence, disposed to do good to; benevolent; gracious; kind; helpful; as, kindly affections, words, acts, etc. The shade by which my life was crossed, . . . Has made me kindly with my kind. Tennyson.
3. Favorable; mild; gentle; auspicious; beneficent. In soft silence shed the kindly shower. Pope. Should e'er a kindlier time ensue. Wordsworth.
Note: "Nothing ethical was connoted in kindly once: it was simply the adjective of kind. But it is God's ordinance that kind should be kindly, in our modern sense of the word as well; and thus the word has attained this meaning." Trench.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Kindly, adv.
1. Naturally; fitly. [Obs.] Chaucer. Examine how kindly the Hebrew manners of speech mix and incorporate with the English language Addison.
2. In a kind manner; congenially; with good will; with a disposition to make others happy, or to oblige. Be kindly affectioned one to another, with brotherly love. Rom. xii. 10.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for kindly; he lists it under friendly, pleasant, propitious.
Where he writes about it:
A pleasing face has good features, complexion, expression, etc.; a pleasant face indicates a kind heart and an obliging disposition, as well as kindly feelings in actual exercise; we can say of one usually good-natured, "on that occasion he did not meet me with a pleasant face." Pleasant, in the sense of gay, merry, jocose (the sense still retained in pleasantry), is now rare, and would not be understood outside of literary circles. — from pleasant