Etymologically
Log in

gelic

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 18:42. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /jeˈliːt͡ʃ/[1]

Forms

ġelīċ (comparative ġelīcra, superlative ġelīcust or ġelīcost or ġelīcast or ġelīċest)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *galīk, from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“alike, similar”), a compound of *ga- and *-līkaz.[1][2] The adjective is common Germanic: Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (galeiks), Old Norse glíkr, Old Frisian gelīk, Old Saxon gilīk and Old High German gilīh.[3][4][5]

Holthausen takes the second part, the adjective meaning “like”, to belong with līċ (“body”), and compares Lithuanian lýgus (“equal”).[6] Orel likewise relates Proto-Germanic *līkaz (“like”) to Proto-Germanic *līką (“body”).[3] Köbler gives Proto-Indo-European *leig- (“shape; like”) with a question mark.[4]

The final consonant was palatalised after the front vowel, giving ⟨ċ⟩.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded from the mid-ninth century: the Old English gloss of the Vespasian Psalter has ic biom gelic astigendum in seað “I shall be like those going down into the pit” over the Latin “ero similis descendentibus in lacum” of Psalm 27.[7][8] The Pastoral Care of 890×897 has the superlative gelicost “most like”.[9][8]

Semantic evolution

The adjective means like, alike, similar or equal, usually with a dative of what something is like: Slǽp biþ deáþe gelícost “sleep is most like death”.[5] In the laws it is used of equal penalties and of an oath judged alike.[10] It glosses Latin similis, aequālis and pār.[4][11] The superlative gelīcost is frequent in poetry, as in Beowulf.[12] Used as a noun, it means “what is like” and, in the Lindisfarne gloss, a parable.[13]

The word lived on as Middle English ilich.[14][1]

Timeline

  • s. ix med. – ic biom gelic glossing ero similis in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[7][8]
  • 890×897 – gelicost in the Pastoral Care.[9][8]
  • s. x med. – in the Old English Boethius and Bald's Leechbook.[15][16][8]
  • s. x/xi – the superlative ġelīcost in the Beowulf manuscript.[17][12]
  • a1150 – þan treowwe gelic “like the tree” in a homily of the Vespasian D. xiv manuscript.[14]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. like, alike, similar.[5][12]
  2. equal, the same.[5][4][10]

Word family

  • ġelīce
  • ġelīcnes
  • unġelīc

Descendants

  • Middle English ylich (→ English alike; Scots ylike; Scots ylyke)[1]
  • līc
  • līcian

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 129
  3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 247
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gelic
  5. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 409
  6. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 200
  7. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
  8. ^ a b c d e Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
  9. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
  10. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 93
  11. ^ Cook, Albert S. (1894), A Glossary of the Old Northumbrian Gospels, Halle: Niemeyer
  12. ^ a b c Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. ġe-līċ
  13. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 357
  14. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  15. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 296
  16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 412
  17. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344