quickly

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English quikli,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English cwiclīce (“in a living manner, vigorously”),^[2][5][6] formed from English quick + -ly.^[7][6][3] The OED compares Old Norse kvikliga (“in a brisk, lively manner”).^[7] The adjective is from Old English cwic (“living, alive”),^[5][8] from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz,^[5][8] from Proto-Indo-European *gwei- (“to live”),^[5] a root also seen in Latin vīvus and Ancient Greek βίος (bíos).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In a living or lively manner, vigorously: in Old English, in the Paris Psalter.^[7] Dictionary.com dates the word before 1000.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The adverb followed its adjective, whose sense of "alive" passed through "lively, active" to "swift" by about 1300.^[5] The older meaning lasted a long time: the OED records "with animation" until 1800,^[7] and in Johnson's 1755 edition it means "nimbly; speedily; actively", while the 1773 edition has "soon; speedily; without delay".^[9] Yet "without delay" is already recorded for the adverb in the Ancrene Riwle, about 1225,^[7] and Etymonline has "rapidly, in a short space of time" from about 1200.^[5] The OED separates "with little interval before the act", "completing an action in a short time" (about 1300), and "at a rapid rate" (before 1325).^[7] Other old senses, "with quickness of perception" and "in a lifelike manner", died out by about 1600,^[7][6] and Merriam-Webster keeps an archaic "with sensitivity", quoting Virginia Woolf.^[3] An adjective quickly, "lively, lifelike", was also used in late Middle English.^[7][2][5]

Timeline

• before 1000 – in a living or lively manner (obsolete by 1800).^[4][7]
• c. 1225 – with little or no delay.^[7] Etymonline dates the sense of speed to about 1200.^[5]
• c. 1300 – within a short space of time.^[7]
• before 1325 – at a rapid rate.^[7]
• c. 1392 – with quickness of perception (obsolete by 1587).^[7]
• 1435 – adjective, lively, and c. 1450 lifelike (obsolete).^[7][2]
• 1477 – in a lifelike manner, in Caxton (obsolete by 1605).^[7]
• 1597 – with participial adjectives, as quickly growing.^[7]

Meanings

Adverb

1. At a fast rate; rapidly: The crowd moved quickly towards the exits.^[3][7][6]
2. Within a short time; without delay; soon: He answered the email quickly.^[3][7][6]
3. (archaic) Sensitively.^[3][7]
4. (obsolete, before 1000–1800) In a lively manner, with vigour.^[7][6]
5. (obsolete, 1392–1587) With quickness of perception.^[7][6]
6. (obsolete, 1477–1605) In a lifelike manner.^[7][6]

Related words

• quick
• quicken
• quicksilver
• quicksand
• vivid
• biology

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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)
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.