Etymologically
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daily

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 14:56. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈdeɪ.li/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Middle English day + -ly,[2][3] and Middle English dayly continues inherited from Old English dæġlīc,[4][5] found only in compounds such as twādæġlīc “happening once in two days”.[2][5] It is cognate with German täglich and Old Norse dagligr.[5][2] The usual Old English word for “daily” was dæġhwāmlīc, which survived as daiwhamlich into the 1200s.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective: 1421, as daly, with dayly from 1423 and daily from 1447,[5] or the mid-15th century.[2] The adverb is from the early 15th century[2] or about 1440.[6]

Semantic evolution

A daily newspaper is a daily from 1823, originally in the United States,[6] or by 1832.[2][7] Daily bread, livelihood, is from 1906, and a cleaner who comes in every day but does not live in is a daily from 1933.[6] In the cinema, dailies are the first prints of a day's filming, from 1934.[6][8] Daily dozen, a set of daily exercises, is from the early 20th century.[6]

Timeline

  • 1421 – daly.[5]
  • c. 1440 – adverb.[6]
  • 1447 – the spelling daily.[5]
  • 1823 – a daily newspaper.[6]
  • 1933 – a daily cleaner.[6]
  • 1934 – dailies, film rushes.[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Happening or done every day.
  2. Calculated for each day: a daily rate.
  3. Of everyday life; ordinary.

Adverb

  1. Every day; once a day.

Noun

  1. A newspaper published every day or every weekday.
  2. (British) A cleaner who comes daily but does not live in.
  3. (plural) The first prints of a day's filming; the rushes.

Word family

  • dailiness
  • daily-breader
  • semidaily
  • daily double
  • day
  • daylight
  • -ly

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin