adv. [f. prec- + -LY.] In a cogent manner; forcibly, convincingly.
1646. J. Whitaker, Uzziah, 4. Not cogently conclusive.
a. 1797. H. Walpole, Mem. Geo. III. (1845), I. iv. 53. His thanks to the House … were shortly, but cogently, expressed.
1838. Sir W. Hamilton, in Reid’s Wks., I. 126/2, note. That the notion of space is a necessary condition of thought … has been cogently demonstrated by Kant.
b. Rarely said of force applied to matter.
1849. Murchison, Siluria, ii. 34. Had not the rocks … been cogently affected.
