Etymograph

English

mislike

Mislike comes from Middle English misliken ‘to displease, offend’, from Old English līcian ‘to like’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leyg-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyg-1‘like, similar’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150līcian1‘to like’
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150mislīcian1‘to displease’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500misliken1‘to displease, offend’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1513mislike1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English mislike
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1513, Thomas More, The History of King Richard the Thirde (Vnfinished) […]: “[N]eyther hys ſeruantes nor hymſelf ſuffered to gone^([sic –…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyg-Wiktionary, English mislike‘like, similar’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150līcianWiktionary, English mislike‘to like’
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150mislīcianWiktionary, English mislike‘to displease’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mislikenWiktionary, English mislike‘to displease, offend’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1513mislikeWiktionary, English mislike. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1513, Thomas More, The History of King Richard the Thirde (Vnfinished) […]: “[N]eyther hys ſeruantes nor hymſelf ſuffered to gone^([sic –…”

Formed from mis- + like

Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to change’

Proto-Indo-European *mitˢtós ‘mutual, reciprocal’

Proto-Germanic *missa- ‘wrongly, badly, mis-’

Proto-West Germanic *missa- ‘mis-, wrongly’

English mis-

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

The story

The English word is analysable as mis- +.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ‘like, similar’

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

Today it means

verb To disapprove of or dislike (someone or something); to have an aversion to.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mislike”. 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- / mislike

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