Where does “ugly” come from?
ugly (Middle English) comes from Old Norse uggligr, from Old Norse -ligr, from Proto-Germanic -līkaz, from Proto-Germanic līką, from Proto-Indo-European leyǵ- — to bind, tie.
Ancestry of “ugly”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Norse | uggligr | feared; doubtful, questionable |
| 2 | Old Norse | -ligr | suffix used to create adjectives, having the... |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | -līkaz | -like, -ly |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | līką | body; corpse, dead body; leech-line, bolt-rope |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | leyǵ- | to bind, tie |
Words derived from “ugly”