Etymograph

English

highly

Highly comes from Middle English hiȝly, from Old English hēalīce ‘highly’; equivalent to high + -ly.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150hēalīce1‘highly’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hiȝly1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1952highly1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English highly
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1952, R. K. Kirkland, The Railways of Uxbridge: “There are those who value a seat sufficiently highly…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150hēalīceWiktionary, English highly‘highly’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hiȝlyWiktionary, English highly
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1952highlyWiktionary, English highly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1952, R. K. Kirkland, The Railways of Uxbridge: “There are those who value a seat sufficiently highly…”

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *kewk- ‘to elevate’

  • huge ← ahuge
  • haughty ← hautein ← haute ← haut ← altus

through Proto-Germanic *hauhaz ‘high’

  • height ← heighte ← hīehþu ← *hauhiþu ← *hauhiþō

11 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adv In a high or esteemed manner.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “highly”. 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 hēalīce / highly