Where does “literally” come from?
I need to work through this chain carefully, but I notice there are significant problems with it that make it impossible to write an accurate etymology sentence.
The chain as presented doesn't make coherent sense:
- "literally" comes from "literal" + "-ly" (the adverbial suffix)
- "literal" comes from Middle English and Old English "-līċ" (an adjective suffix)
- But the chain then jumps to Latin -alis, Ancient Greek διφθέρα (diphthera, meaning "leather"), and PIE roots that don't connect to the meaning of "literal"
This chain appears corrupted or mixed with a different word's etymology. The actual etymology of "literal" should trace through Latin *litteralis* (from *littera*, letter) rather than through διφθέρα (leather).
**I cannot write an accurate one-sentence etymology using this chain as given, because
literally (English): word for word; not figuratively; not as an idiom...
Definitions
- word for word; not figuratively; not as an idiom...
Ancestry of “literally”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | literal | Exactly as stated; read or understood without... |
| 2 | Old French | literal | literal |
| 3 | Latin | litteralis | literary; epistolary |
| 4 | Latin | littera | a letter of the alphabet; handwriting; letter,... |
| 5 | Latin | lītera | — |
| 6 | Old Latin | leitera | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂leyH- | to smear |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | leyh₂- | to die, disapear; to avoid, elude, decline,... |