Where does “ghostlike” come from?
Ghostlike derives from English ghost combined with the Old English adjectival suffix -līċ, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European ǵʰeysd- and ḱóm.
ghostlike (English): Seemingly invisible; as a ghost, similar to a...
Definitions
- Seemingly invisible; as a ghost, similar to a...
Ancestry of “ghostlike”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | -like | Having some of the characteristics of |
| 2 | Middle English | -like | Alternative form of -liche |
| 3 | Middle English | -liche | Used to form adjectives from nouns, the... |
| 4 | Old English | -līc | adjective-forming suffix meaning 'like' or 'relating to |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -līkaz | -like, -ly |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | līką | body; corpse, dead body; leech-line, bolt-rope |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | leyǵ- | to bind, tie |