Etymograph

English

like

Like comes from Middle English liken, from Old English līcian ‘to please’, from Proto-Germanic *līkāną, built on *līką ‘body’, perhaps from PIE *leyg- ‘similar, like’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyg-1‘similar, like’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līką1‘body’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*-līkaz1‘-like’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līkāną1‘to conform’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*līkēn1‘to be pleasing’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150līcian1‘to like’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500liken1‘to be appealing or pleasant’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590slike1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English like
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590s, William Shakespeare, Henry VI: “And like me to the peasant boys of France.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyg-Wiktionary, English like‘similar, like’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līkąWiktionary, English like‘body’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*-līkazWiktionary, English like‘-like’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līkānąWiktionary, English like‘to conform’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*līkēnWiktionary, English like‘to be pleasing’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150līcianWiktionary, English like‘to like’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500likenWiktionary, English like‘to be appealing or pleasant’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590slikeWiktionary, English like. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590s, William Shakespeare, Henry VI: “And like me to the peasant boys of France.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ‘image’

lay, lake, lai, ilk, lich, 1 more

through Proto-Germanic *līkāną ‘to please, to like (impersonal)’

liking, 1 more

Another origin of like

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ga-‘Indicates association or togetherness’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*galīkaz‘alike, similar’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*galīk‘alike, similar’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġelīċ‘like, similar’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lik
  6. Englishtodaylike

Adjective from Middle English lik, lyk, lich, like, from Old English ġelīċ by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr, glíkr; both from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (‘like, similar, same’).

Today it means

verb To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “like”. 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 *leyg- / like

Shirt and support for this word