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Etymology and origin of the English word -ly

Pronunciation

-ly1 forming adjectives

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
Inherited from
Old English -lic via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *-līkaz

Etymology

The adjective suffix is inherited from Middle English -lich, also -lik and -li,[2][3][4] inherited from Old English -līc,[5][6][2][3] from Proto-West Germanic *-līk,[1] from Proto-Germanic *-līkaz (“having the body or form of”),[1][6] from *līką (“body”), which is also the source of lich and is related to like.[1][6][2][5][3] It is cognate with Old Frisian -lîk, Old Saxon -līk, Dutch -lijk, Old High German -līh, German -lich, Old Norse -ligr and Gothic -𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (-leiks).[5][3][2][4] The forms in -li and -ly are thought to be due mainly to Scandinavian influence.[5][3][4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The original Germanic adjectives were compounds, so that the ancestor of manly meant having the appearance or form of a man.[5][3] In all the Germanic languages the sense widened to having the qualities of, characteristic of or befitting something.[5][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Regional forms lasted a long time: northern -lik and southern -lich are found as late as the 15th century, while -li and -ly appear in the north and Midlands as early as the 13th and were universal before the end of the 15th.[5][4] The Ormulum, of about 1200, still has -lic or -liȝ according to what follows.[5] English adjectives formed with it are most often complimentary, as in kingly and scholarly, but sometimes not, as in beastly and cowardly; the OED compares manly with mannish.[5] A further use marks regular recurrence, as in daily and yearly.[3][8][6] Barnhart says that the older sense "belonging to", as in the early use of the word for "human", has not been sustained in English.[4]

Timeline

  • Old English – -līc.[5]
  • c. 1200 – -lic, -liȝ in the Ormulum.[5]
  • 13th century – -li, -ly in northern and Midland dialects.[5]
  • before the end of the 15th century – -ly universal.[5][4]

Meanings

Suffix

  1. Forming adjectives from nouns, meaning having the qualities of or like something: fatherly, cowardly.[8][2][9]
  2. Forming adjectives meaning occurring at stated intervals: weekly, monthly.[8][9][3]

Word family

-ly2 forming adverbs

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
Inherited from
Old English -lice via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *-līkaz

Etymology

The adverb suffix is inherited from Middle English -liche, also -like and -li,[2][4][3] inherited from Old English -līce,[5][6][2][3] formed from the adjective suffix -līc with the adverb ending of Germanic.[5][3][2][10] It is cognate with Old Saxon -līko, Old High German -līcho, Old Norse -liga, and Gothic -𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍉 (-leikō),[5][3][9] and the modern form probably owes something to -liga.[6][4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Old English most adverbs were formed from an adjective in -līc; a few, such as bealdlīce (“boldly”) and swētlīce (“sweetly”), were formed directly on the simple adjective.[4][3]

Semantic evolution

As the final -e was lost in Middle English, it became the practice to add -ly straight to any adjective, so that the suffix no longer implied an adjective in -ly.[4][3] Forms like earlily and lovelily occur into the 1600s but are now avoided.[4] Adjectives in -le contract, as with doubly and simply, a process already established in the 1300s.[4] Weekley finds it curious that Germanic built its adverbs on a word for "body", while Romance used one for "mind", as in French constamment.[11][6]

Timeline

  • Old English – -līce.[5]
  • 1300s – contracted forms from adjectives in -le.[4]
  • 1400s – -ly, -li the common form.[4]
  • 1600s – last regular forms such as earlily, lovelily.[4]

Meanings

Suffix

  1. Forming adverbs from adjectives, meaning in a stated manner or to a stated degree: slowly, greatly.[8][4][9]
  2. Forming adverbs meaning in stated respects: financially.[4]
  3. Forming adverbs of time or order: recently, thirdly.[8][4]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“-ly.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/-ly. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

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