Where does “willfully” come from?
Willfully comes from English willful plus the Old English adverbial suffix -līċ, derived from Proto-Germanic -līkaz (meaning "like" or "resembling"), itself from Proto-Indo-European līg- and ḱóm.
willfully (English): US standard spelling of wilfully
Definitions
- US standard spelling of wilfully
Ancestry of “willfully”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -ly | Used to form adjectives from nouns, the... |
| 2 | English | grisly | Horrifyingly repellent; gruesome, terrifying;... |
| 3 | Middle English | grisely | — |
| 4 | Old English | grisliċ | grisly, horrible; dreadful, horrid |
| 5 | Old English | -līċ | suffix forming {{glossary|adjective}}s meaning... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | *-līk | — |