Where does “sweetly” come from?
Sweetly comes from Middle English swetly, from Old English swētlīċe, an adverbial form meaning in a sweet manner.
sweetly (English): In a sweet or pleasant manner
Definitions
- In a sweet or pleasant manner
Ancestry of “sweetly”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | sweet | Having a pleasant taste, especially one relating... |
| 2 | Middle English | swete | sweet, pleasant-tasting; sweet in smell;... |
| 3 | Old English | swēte | sweet |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | swōtī | sweet |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | swōtuz | sweet |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | swéh₂dus | sweet |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | sweh₂d- | sweet |