Where does “buchstäblich” come from?
buchstäblich (German) comes from German -lich, from Middle High German -lich, from Old High German -līh, from Proto-Germanic *-līk.
buchstäblich (German): literal; literally
Ancestry of “buchstäblich”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | German | -lich | an adjectival suffix; an adverbial suffix |
| 2 | Middle High German | -lich | -ly |
| 3 | Old High German | -līh | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | *-līk | — |