unlikely English · revision 6079

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1375}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʌnˈlaɪ.kli/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English unlikli, [[af|en|un-|likely]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) with similar formations in [[non|úlíkligr]] and Middle Danish uligelig.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Not likely to happen, improbable: 1375 in the OED,^(OED 1989) the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Not likely to be true or correct is from 1592 in the OED,^(OED 1989) the 1590s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) In Middle English unlikely also meant unsuitable or unfit (about 1386) and unseemly or objectionable (1456), senses now obsolete,^(OED 1989) and in northern Lincolnshire dialect it still meant bad or displeasing.^(Wright 1898) Not promising, likely to fail, as in ''an unlikely candidate'', continues the old sense of unsuitability.^(AHD)^(OED 1989) The adverb, improbably, is from the mid-15th century,^(Etymonline) and the noun, an unlikely person, from 1867.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1375 – improbable.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1386 – unsuitable (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-15th century – the adverb.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1592 – not likely to be true.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1867 – an unlikely person.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Not likely to happen or be true; [[improbable]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Not promising; likely to fail: ''an unlikely candidate''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[unlikeliness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[likely]]

+ * [[like]]

+ * [[unlike]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}