Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “airily” come from?

Airily derives from English airy with the English suffix -y, from Middle French -ie and Latin -ia, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European -kos through Latin -ivus.

airily (English): In an airy manner; lightly

Definitions

  1. In an airy manner; lightly

Ancestry of “airily”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishairyConsisting of air; Relating or belonging to air;...
2English-yAdded to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives...
3Middle English-yDesignates an adjective, in many cases formed by...
4Old English-iġ-y, -ic
5Proto-West Germanic-gForms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a...
6Proto-Germanic-gaz-y
7Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos →