Where does “lordly” come from?
Lordly comes from Old English hlāfordlīċ, an adjective formed from hlāford (lord) plus the suffix -līċ (like, characteristic of).
lordly (English): Of or relating to a lord; Having the qualities of...
Definitions
- Of or relating to a lord; Having the qualities of...
Ancestry of “lordly”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | hlāfordlīċ | lordly; heroic; noble |
| 2 | Old English | hlāford | lord |
| 3 | Old English | hlāfweard | lord, master, husband |
| 4 | Old English | weard | guard; guard, the action of looking out for... |
| 5 | Old English | ōra | ore, unwrought metal |
| 6 | Old English | ēar | sea, ocean; grave, earth |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | ahaz | ear |
| 8 | Proto-Finnic | ahtas | narrow, cramped |
| 9 | Proto-Baltic | anśtas | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂énǵʰus | narrow, tight |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂enǵʰ- | to constrict, tighten, compress; narrow, tight;... |
Words derived from “lordly”