Where does “friendly” come from?

Friendly derives from Middle English freendly, Old English frēondlīċ, and Proto-Germanic frijōndlīkaz, built on the root for "friend" traced through Proto-Indo-European preyH-, meaning "to love or please."

friendly (English): Generally warm, approachable and easy to relate...

Definitions

  1. Generally warm, approachable and easy to relate...

Ancestry of “friendly”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishfrendlyFriendly, amicable; acting like a friend;...
2Old Englishfrēondlīċfriendly
3Proto-Germanicfrijōndlīkazfriendlike; friendly
4Proto-Germanic-līkaz-like, -ly
5Proto-Germaniclīkąbody; corpse, dead body; leech-line, bolt-rope
6Proto-Indo-Europeanleyǵ-to bind, tie

Words derived from “friendly”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European leyǵ- →Every word from Proto-Germanic līką →Every word from Proto-Germanic -līkaz →