Where does “flexibly” come from?
Flexibly comes from Middle French flexible, derived from Latin flexibilis, formed from the Latin suffix -ibilis combined with a root from Proto-Germanic galīkaz and Proto-Indo-European līg-.
flexibly (English): in a flexible manner
Ancestry of “flexibly”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | flexible | Capable of being flexed or bent without breaking;... |
| 2 | Middle French | flexible | — |
| 3 | Latin | flexibilis | flexible, pliant, able to be bent; tractable,... |
| 4 | Latin | -bilis | -ble |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -ðlis | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -dʰlis | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -dʰlom | Alternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;... |