Etymograph

English

selly

Selly comes from Middle English selly ‘strange, astounding, wondrous’, from Proto-Germanic *seldalīkaz ‘unusual, uncommon’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sel- ‘to jump, spring’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sel-1‘to jump, spring’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*seldaz2‘rare’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*seldalīkaz3‘unusual, uncommon’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*seldalīk3‘strange’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sellīċ3‘rare, strange, wondrous’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500selly3‘strange, astounding, wondrous’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1470–1485selly3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *seldaz, which cites Orel
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *seldalīkaz
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English selly
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1470–1485, (please specify the chapter): “His brother was […] selly sick and sore unsound.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sel-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *seldaz, which cites Orel‘to jump, spring’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*seldazWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *seldalīkaz‘rare’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*seldalīkazWiktionary, English selly‘unusual, uncommon’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*seldalīkWiktionary, English selly‘strange’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sellīċWiktionary, English selly‘rare, strange, wondrous’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sellyWiktionary, English selly‘strange, astounding, wondrous’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1470–1485sellyWiktionary, English selly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1470–1485, (please specify the chapter): “His brother was […] selly sick and sore unsound.”

Formed from seld + -ly

Old English setl ‘seat, bench, throne’

Middle English selde ‘seat, store’

English seld

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sel- ‘to jump, spring’

result, sale, savage, salmon, insult, salon, exile, silva, salvage, resilient, sally, salient, salle, sylvan, sill, somersault, salacious, slink, selva, seel, 17 more

Today it means

adj Rare; wonderful; admirable

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “selly”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *seldaz, Proto-Germanic *seldalīkaz. 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 *sel- / selly

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