Where does “lonely” come from?
Lonely derives from English lone, which combines English alone with Old English -līċ (meaning "like" or "having the quality of"), ultimately tracing through Middle English oon and Old English ān to Proto-Indo-European roots meaning "one" and "together."
lonely (English): Unhappy because of feeling isolated from contact...
Definitions
- Unhappy because of feeling isolated from contact...
Ancestry of “lonely”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Lone | Solitary; having no companion |
| 2 | English | alone | By oneself, solitary; Apart from, or exclusive... |
| 3 | Middle English | allone | alone |
| 4 | Middle English | on | on, in; on; Alternative form of oon |
| 5 | Old English | on | on, in, at, among; from |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | ana | on |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | *an | — |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | ana | on, at; on, onto; ana |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂en- | on, onto |