Where does “likely” come from?
Likely derives from Middle English likely, from Old English ġelīclīċ, from Proto-Germanic līkalīka.
likely (English): probable; having a greater-than-even chance of...
Definitions
- probable; having a greater-than-even chance of...
Ancestry of “likely”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | likely | — |
| 2 | Old English | ġelīclīċ | likely |
| 3 | Old English | ġē | ye |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | jahw | and, also |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -hw | and; Forms distributives from interrogatives |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -hwe | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -kʷe | and; Forms distributives from interrogatives |
Words derived from “likely”