Where does “evilly” come from?
Evilly comes from Middle English -ly added to Old English yfel, from Proto-Indo-European līg- and ḱóm, both meaning "to break apart" or "to harm."
evilly (English): In an evil manner
Definitions
- In an evil manner
Ancestry of “evilly”, step by step
evilly traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English yvele
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | yvele | wickedly, evilly, iniquitously |
| 2 | Old English | yfele | badly, poorly; evilly, wickedly |
| 3 | Old English | -e | forming adverbs from adjectives; -ly |
| 4 | Old English | -en | mæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;... |
| 5 | Old Norse | -inn | Used to create adjectives from nouns, meaning... |
| 6 | Proto-Norse | -īna- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -īnaz | -en |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -iHnos | Creates adjectives of materials |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -no- | adjectival suffix |