Etymograph

English

likely

Likely comes from Middle English likely, from Old English ġelīclīċ ‘suitable’ and Old Norse líkligr ‘likely’.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġelīclīċ1‘suitable’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500likely1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1596likely1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English likely
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser: “For love is a celestiall harmonie Of likely harts…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġelīclīċWiktionary, English likely‘suitable’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500likelyWiktionary, English likely
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1596likelyWiktionary, English likely. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser: “For love is a celestiall harmonie Of likely harts…”

Formed from like + -ly

Proto-Germanic *līką ‘body’

…

Proto-Germanic *līkāną ‘to conform’

Proto-West Germanic *līkēn ‘to be pleasing’

Old English līcian ‘to like’

Middle English liken ‘to be appealing or pleasant’

English like

Every English word from Old English ġelīclīċ

Another origin of likely

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līkalīkareconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġelīclīċe‘equally’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500likely
  4. Englishtodaylikely

Today it means

adj Probable; having a greater-than-even chance of occurring.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “likely”. 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 ġelīclīċ / likely

Shirt and support for this word