Etymograph

English

easily

Easily comes from Middle English esiliche, equivalent to easy + -ly.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500esiliche1‘with ease, comfortably’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1590easily1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English easily
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto XI: “Eftsoones she causd him vp to be conuayd, /…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500esilicheWiktionary, English easily‘with ease, comfortably’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1590easilyWiktionary, English easily. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto XI: “Eftsoones she causd him vp to be conuayd, /…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with easily, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Middle English ese

through Middle English esy ‘Comfortable, pleasant’

1 more relative in the full family tree

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Today it means

adv Comfortably, without discomfort or anxiety.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “easily”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English esiliche / easily