Etymograph

English

monthly

Monthly is month + -ly, perhaps via Middle English *monethly from Old English mōnaþlīċ, from Proto-Germanic *mēnōþlīkaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mēnōþlīkaz1‘monthly’uncertain
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mānōþlīk1‘monthly’uncertain
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150mōnaþlīċ1‘monthly’uncertain
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*monethly1‘monthly’uncertain
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2024monthly1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English monthly
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2024, maia arson crimew, israeli national police found trying to purchase stalkerware: “all of these services, including mSpy, function with the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*mēnōþlīkazWiktionary, English monthly‘monthly’uncertain
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*mānōþlīkWiktionary, English monthly‘monthly’uncertain
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150mōnaþlīċWiktionary, English monthly‘monthly’uncertain
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*monethlyWiktionary, English monthly‘monthly’uncertain
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2024monthlyWiktionary, English monthly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2024, maia arson crimew, israeli national police found trying to purchase stalkerware: “all of these services, including mSpy, function with the…”

The story

From month + -ly (adjectival suffix), perhaps via Middle English *monethly (attested only adverbially), from Old English mōnaþlīċ (‘monthly’), from Proto-West Germanic *mānōþlīk, from Proto-Germanic *mēnōþlīkaz (‘monthly’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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Another origin of monthly

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500monethly
  2. Englishtodaymonthly

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Today it means

adj Occurring every month.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “monthly”. 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-Germanic *mēnōþlīkaz / monthly