Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “quickly” come from?

Quickly comes from Middle English quikliche, from Old English cwiculīċe, an adverbial form meaning in a lively or living manner.

quickly (English): Rapidly; with speed; fast; Very soon

Definitions

  1. Rapidly; with speed; fast; Very soon

Ancestry of “quickly”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishquykly—
2Old Englishcwiculīċe—
3Old English-līċe—
4Old English-eforming adverbs from adjectives; -ly
5Old English-enmæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;...
6Old Norse-innUsed to create adjectives from nouns, meaning...
7Proto-Norse-īna-—
8Proto-Germanic-īnaz-en
9Proto-Indo-European-iHnosCreates adjectives of materials
10Proto-Indo-European-no-adjectival suffix

Words derived from “quickly”

  • quicklier
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -no- →