Where does “awfully” come from?
Awfully derives from English awful plus the adverbial suffix -ly, from Middle English aweful, combining awe with Old English -ful meaning full of, ultimately from Proto-Germanic and Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to be full or abundant.
awfully (English): Badly, terribly; Very; exceedingly; extremely;...
Definitions
- Badly, terribly; Very; exceedingly; extremely;...
Ancestry of “awfully”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | awful | Very bad; Exceedingly great; usually applied... |
| 2 | Middle English | agheful | awe-inspiring, wondrous; awful, horrible |
| 3 | Middle English | -ful | Appended to nouns to form adjectives denoting... |
| 4 | Old English | -ful | full of; -ful |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -fullaz | -ful |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | fullaz | full; the whole, the entire |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pl̥h₁nós | full |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pleh₁- | to fill |