Where does “fruitfully” come from?
Fruitfully derives from Middle English -ly added to Old English -līċ, from Proto-Germanic -līkaz meaning "like," which combined with galīkaz and traces to Proto-Indo-European līg- and ḱóm.
fruitfully (English): In a fruitful manner; productively
Definitions
- In a fruitful manner; productively
Ancestry of “fruitfully”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | fruitful | Favourable to the growth of fruit or useful... |
| 2 | Middle English | fruitefull | — |
| 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 |