Etymograph

English

restlessly

Restlessly comes from Old English ræstlēas ‘restless’, from ræst ‘rest’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rastō.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rastō1‘rest’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rastu1‘rest’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ræst1‘rest’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ræstlēas1‘restless’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500restles1
  6. English1500–presentrestless1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1915restlessly1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English restlessly
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1915, George A. Birmingham pseudonym; James Ow, New York: “There is an hour or two, after the passengers…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rastōWiktionary, English restlessly‘rest’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rastuWiktionary, English restlessly‘rest’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ræstWiktionary, English restlessly‘rest’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ræstlēasWiktionary, English restlessly‘restless’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500restlesWiktionary, English restlessly
  6. English1500–presentrestlessWiktionary, English restlessly
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1915restlesslyWiktionary, English restlessly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1915, George A. Birmingham pseudonym; James Ow, New York: “There is an hour or two, after the passengers…”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *rastō

Today it means

adv In a restless manner.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “restlessly”. 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 *rastō / restlessly

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