Low·ly a. [Compar. Lowlier superl. Lowliest.]
  1. Not high; not elevated in place; low. “Lowly lands.”
  2. Low in rank or social importance.
     One common right the great and lowly claims.   --Pope.
  3. Not lofty or sublime; humble.
     These rural poems, and their lowly strain.   --Dryden.
  4. Having a low esteem of one's own worth; humble; meek; free from pride.
     Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.   --Matt. xi. 29.
  lowly
       adj 1: low or inferior in station or quality; "a humble cottage";
              "a lowly parish priest"; "a modest man of the people";
              "small beginnings" [syn: humble, low, modest, small]
       2: inferior in rank or status; "the junior faculty"; "a lowly
          corporal"; "petty officialdom"; "a subordinate
          functionary" [syn: junior-grade, inferior, lower, lower-ranking,
           petty(a), secondary, subaltern, subordinate]
       3: used of unskilled work (especially domestic work) [syn: humble,
           menial]
       4: of low birth or station (`base' is archaic in this sense);
          "baseborn wretches with dirty faces"; "of humble (or
          lowly) birth" [syn: base, baseborn, humble]
       [also: lowliest, lowlier]