Where does “headmasterly” come from?

headmasterly (English) comes from English headmaster, from English Master, from English Mast, from French masse, from Old French mace, from Vulgar Latin mattia, from Latin mateola, from Latin -ulus — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.

headmasterly (English): In a manner befitting a headmaster

Definitions

  1. In a manner befitting a headmaster

Ancestry of “headmasterly”, step by step

headmasterly traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English headmaster

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishheadmasterA male school principal
2EnglishMasterPrepended to a boy's name or surname as a form...
3EnglishMast
4Frenchmassea paste, a dough; large amount or quantity of...
5Old Frenchmacemace weapon
6Vulgar Latinmattia
7LatinmateolaThe meaning of this term is uncertain....
8Latin-ulusUsed to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating...
9Proto-Italic-olos
10Proto-Italic-elosForms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns
11Proto-Indo-European-e-lós
12Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots

via English ly

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishlyAbbreviation of light-year
2VietnameselyAlternative spelling of li
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós