Where does “slowly” come from?
slowly (Middle English) comes from Old English slāwlīċe, from Old English -līċe, from Old English -e, from Old English -en, from Old Norse -inn, from Proto-Norse -īna-, from Proto-Germanic -īnaz, from Proto-Indo-European -iHnos — adjectival suffix.
Ancestry of “slowly”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | slāwlīċe | slowly; sluggishly |
| 2 | Old English | -līċe | — |
| 3 | Old English | -e | forming adverbs from adjectives; -ly |
| 4 | Old English | -en | mæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;... |
| 5 | Old Norse | -inn | Used to create adjectives from nouns, meaning... |
| 6 | Proto-Norse | -īna- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -īnaz | -en |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -iHnos | Creates adjectives of materials |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -no- | adjectival suffix |
Words derived from “slowly”