What is the difference between "peaceably" and "peacefully"?
I found the word "peaceably" in the following text:
Where the access and use of light or air to and for any building have been peaceably enjoyed therewith as an easement, and as of right, without interruption, and for twenty years, and where any way or watercourse or the use of any water or any other easement (whether affirmative or negative) has been peaceably and openly enjoyed by any person claiming title thereto as an easement and as of right without interruption and for twenty years, the right to such access and use of light or air, way, watercourse, use of water, or other easement shall be absolute and indefeasible. (Link: http://comtax.up.nic.in/Miscellaneous%20Act/limitation-act-1963.pdf)
What difference would have been there if, in the above text, the word "peacefully" would have been substituted for the word "peaceably"?
On googling, I found that "peaceful" means undisturbed by turmoil or disagreement and that "peaceable" means inclined to peace. (Link: http://grammarist.com/usage/peaceable-peaceful/) If it is so, then, in the above text, the word "peacefully" would have been better suited compared to the word "peaceably" used therein.
On a second thought, I find that the text, which states a provision of Indian law, is more than hundred years old and has stood the test of time. (The provision was there in the Indian Limitation Act, 1908 and has survived when that Act was re-enacted as the Indian Limitation Act, 1963.) If so, then it appears that there is perhaps no wrong in the use of the word "peaceably" in the above text.
Thus, the analysis finally takes me to no conclusion; confusion persists.
Can anybody tell me the correct scope of meaning of each of the two words − "peaceably" and "peacefully"?
Best Answer
Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms (1942) groups peaceable and peaceful (along with irenic, pacifist, and pacifistic) under the entry for pacific:
Thus, from this dictionary's point of view, the main difference between the two words is that peaceably indicates in a manner likely to maintain peace and minimize strife, while peacefully suggests in a manner demonstrating a state of peace and an absence of conflict.
With regard to the specifically legal meaning of peaceable, Black's Law Dictionary, revised fourth edition (1968) has this:
Significantly, Black's does not include a legal definition of peacefully, from which we may deduce that peacefully is used far less often in statutes and ordinances than peaceably is. Often, English (and American) law will use fairly carefully defined terms across multiple jurisdictions in preference to very similar but less well-defined (in law) words. That appears to be what's going on with peaceably versus peacefully.
The key feature of peaceable possession or enjoyment of a thing appears to be possession or enjoyment without contention or dispute over many years. In the provision you refer to in your question, the rule has some elements in common with the law of adverse possession (namely, the openness and continuousness of the possession or enjoyment), and it serves somewhat similar ends (namely, not to upset a status quo that all interested parties have acquiesced in for many years).
Conclusion
Peaceable and peaceful have similar and largely overlapping meanings in everyday English, but they are not so completely interchangeable that a dictionary cannot distinguish different tendencies or colorations in their meaning.
But aside from the issue of whether the two terms mean different things in general usage, peaceable appears to be a much more distinctly defined and widely used term in the context of statutory law; and courts may have settled on a shared definition or interpretation of the terms "peaceable entry," "peaceable possession," and "peaceable enjoyment" that has no counterpart with regard to the terms "peaceful entry," "peaceful possession," and "peaceful enjoyment."