English

likely

/ˈlaɪkli/
Probable; having a greater-than-even chance of occurring.

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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English likely, likly, lykly, likliche, from Old English ġelīclīċ (“suitable”) and Old Norse líkligr (“likely”) (probably independent formations), equivalent to like + -ly (adjectival suffix).

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English likely, likly, lykly, likliche, from Old English ġelīclīċe (“equally”) and Old Norse líkliga, glíkliga (“likely”), both from Proto-Germanic *līkalīka, equivalent to like + -ly (adverbial suffix).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishlikely
      • inheritedOld Englishġelīclīċ “suitable”
        • derivedOld Norselíkligr “likely”
      • inheritedOld Englishġelīclīċe “equally”
        • derivedOld Norselíkliga
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*līkalīka
    • surface analysisEnglishlike “To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of.”
    • suffixEnglish-ly “Used to form adjectives from nouns, the adjectives having the sense of "behaving like, or having a …”
      • inheritedMiddle English-ly
        • inheritedOld English-līċe
        • inheritedOld English-līċ

    Sources