Etymology Explorer › Old English

Where does “-līċe” come from?

-līċe (Old English) comes 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, from Proto-Indo-European -no- — adjectival suffix.

Ancestry of “-līċe”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old English-eforming adverbs from adjectives; -ly
2Old English-enmæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;...
3Old Norse-innUsed to create adjectives from nouns, meaning...
4Proto-Norse-īna-—
5Proto-Germanic-īnaz-en
6Proto-Indo-European-iHnosCreates adjectives of materials
7Proto-Indo-European-no-adjectival suffix

Words derived from “-līċe”

  • early
  • brightly
  • earliness
  • nonearly
  • earlier
  • erly
  • brightliche
  • glædlice
  • heardlice
  • hefiglice
  • healice
  • hreowlice
  • neodlice
  • bliþelice
  • inlice
  • deoplice
  • lustfullice
  • drihtenlice
  • liflice
  • cræftiglice
  • mildelice
  • biterlice
  • deorlice
  • ærlice
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -no- →