Etymologically
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likelihood

Etymology and origin of the English word likelihood

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1398
From
Middle English liklihod

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈlaɪ.kli.hʊd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English liklihod, formed from likely and -hood.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Likeness, resemblance: 1398 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The sense of probability, the state of being likely, is from the mid-15th century (about 1449).[2][4] Phrases such as in all likelihood are from 1433,[4] and something likely, a ground for inference, from 1541.[4] The quality of promising success is from 1596, now only an echo of Shakespeare.[4] In statistics, likelihood is a function of a hypothesis given the data (1922), as in the likelihood ratio (1938).[4][5]

Timeline

  • 1398 – likeness.[4]
  • 1433 – in all likelihood.[4]
  • c. 1449 – probability.[4]
  • 1596 – promise of success.[4]
  • 1922 – likelihood (statistics).[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The state of being probable; probability.
  2. Something probable.
  3. (statistics) The probability of observed data regarded as a function of the parameters or hypotheses.

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Likelihood.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/likelihood. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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