Etymograph

English

heartily

Heartily comes from Middle English hertely ‘hearty’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱérd.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱérd1‘heart’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hertô2‘heart’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hertā3‘heart’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150heorte4‘heart’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġeheortlīċe5‘whole-heartedly, vigorously’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hertely5‘hearty’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1887heartily5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hertô
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *hertā
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English heorte
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Old English geheortlice
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English heartily
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging: “Sometimes he laughed heartily as if he heard some…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱérdWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hertô‘heart’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hertôWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *hertā‘heart’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hertāWiktionary, Old English heorte‘heart’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150heorteWiktionary, Old English geheortlice‘heart’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġeheortlīċeWiktionary, English heartily‘whole-heartedly, vigorously’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hertelyWiktionary, English heartily‘hearty’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1887heartilyWiktionary, English heartily. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging: “Sometimes he laughed heartily as if he heard some…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *ḱérd

Today it means

adv In a hearty manner.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “heartily”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *hertô, Proto-West Germanic *hertā, Old English heorte, Old English geheortlice. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *ḱérd / heartily

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