Etymograph

English

heartly

Heartly comes from Middle English hertly, and goes back to Old English *heortlīċ.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150*heortlīċ1reconstructed
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hertly1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1926heartly1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English heartly
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1926, Sir Hugh Walpole: “'[…] I wish you very good fortune.' He found…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150*heortlīċWiktionary, English heartlyreconstructed
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hertlyWiktionary, English heartly
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1926heartlyWiktionary, English heartly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1926, Sir Hugh Walpole: “'[…] I wish you very good fortune.' He found…”

Formed from heart + -ly

Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd-

…

Proto-Germanic *hertô

Proto-West Germanic *hertā

Old English heorte

Middle English harte

English heart

The story

From Middle English hertly, hertely, hertelyche, from Old English *heortlīċ, *ġeheortlīċ (attested only as an adverb: ġeheortlīċe (‘thoroughly, virorously’)), equivalent to heart + -ly.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Old English *heortlīċ

Today it means

adj Full of heart; cordial; from the heart; hearty

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “heartly”. 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 / Old English *heortlīċ / heartly

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