Where does “hopefully” come from?
Hopefully comes from English hopeful and the Old English suffix -ful, ultimately derived from Proto-Germanic galīkaz meaning "like" and Proto-Indo-European roots expressing fullness and completion.
hopefully (English): In a hopeful manner; It is hoped that; I hope; we...
Definitions
- In a hopeful manner; It is hoped that; I hope; we...
Ancestry of “hopefully”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | hopeful | feeling hope; inspiring hope; Someone who is... |
| 2 | English | -ful | Used to form adjectives from nouns. Full of,... |
| 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 |