timlig

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish timelīker, equivalent to timme +‎ -lig. Cognate with English timely.

Adjective

timlig

1. earthly, temporal (concerned with worldly, as opposed to spiritual, matters)
   • 1909, Hans Nilson, “Tack. Tacksam. Tacksägelse”, in De bibliska hufvudbegreppen‎, Bohlin & Co, accessed at Runeberg.org, archived from the original on 26 February 2025, page 642:

     [H]an var en utmärkt hushållare av dessa timliga ägodelar, som rost och mal så lätt fördärva och som tjuvar så gärna stjäla.

     He was an excellent administrator of these earthly possessions, which rust and moth so easily destroy, and which thieves so readily steal.

   • 2010, Lars Cavallin, transl., Katolska kyrkans katekes‎, Catholica, archived from the original on 25 March 2023, §1264:

     I den döpta människan finns emellertid vissa timliga följder av synden kvar, som exempelvis lidande, sjukdom och död.

     In the baptized person certain temporal consequences of sin nevertheless remain, such as suffering, illness, and death.

   • 2024 December 29, Dan Jönsson, “Søren Kierkegaards kompromisslöshet”, in Sveriges Radio‎, archived from the original on 26 February 2025:

     Det han ytterst strävar efter är [...] ett svar på frågan hur man bör leva som kristen – det vill säga, hur man som timlig [...] varelse förhåller sig till det absoluta.

     What he ultimately strives for is an answer to the question of how one should live as a Christian – that is, how you, as a temporal being, relate to the absolute.

Declension

Inflection of timlig

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	timlig	—	—
neuter singular	timligt	—	—
plural	timliga	—	—
masculine plural2	timlige	—	—
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	timlige	—	—
all	timliga	—	—

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

References

• timlig in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker
• timlig in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)