Where does “surlily” come from?
Surlily derives from English surly plus the adverbial suffix -ly, which developed from Old English -līċ meaning "like" or "having the quality of," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots indicating similarity and togetherness.
surlily (English): In a surly manner
Definitions
- In a surly manner
Ancestry of “surlily”, step by step
surlily traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English surly
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | surly | Irritated, bad-tempered, unfriendly; Threatening,... |
| 2 | English | sirly | — |
| 3 | English | Sir | Alternative letter-case form of sir; The titular... |
| 4 | English | sire | A lord, master, or other person in authority,... |
| 5 | Middle English | sire | Used preceding the name or title of a knight,... |
| 6 | Old French | sire | nominative singular of sieur; master, sir, lord;... |
| 7 | Vulgar Latin | seior | — |
| 8 | Latin | senior | older, elder; rather old; a lord, sir; an abbot |
| 9 | Latin | senex | old, aged, elderly; old person, old man, old... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | sénos | old |