Where does “Philly” come from?
Philly (English) comes from English Philadelphia, from Latin Philadelphia, from Ancient Greek Φιλαδέλφεια, from Ancient Greek Φιλάδελφος, from Ancient Greek φιλέω, from Ancient Greek ἀτέλεια, from Ancient Greek ἀ-, from Proto-Hellenic hə- — together, one.
Ancestry of “Philly”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Philadelphia | — |
| 2 | Latin | Philadelphia | — |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | Φιλαδέλφεια | — |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | Φιλάδελφος | brother-loving |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | φιλέω | I love, like, regard highly; I treat kindly,... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | ἀτέλεια | — |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | ἀ- | The alpha privativum, used to make words that... |
| 8 | Proto-Hellenic | hə- | same; together |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | sm̥- | one; with, together |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | sem- | together, one |