Etymograph

English

shortly

Shortly comes from Old English sċortlīċe ‘shortly’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *skurtaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skurtaz1‘short’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skurt1‘short’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċort2‘short’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċortlīċe3‘shortly’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schortly3
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1749shortly3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English scort
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English scortlice
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English shortly
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones: “We shall not describe this tragical scene too fully;…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skurtazWiktionary, Old English scort‘short’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skurtWiktionary, Old English scort‘short’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċortWiktionary, Old English scortlice‘short’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċortlīċeWiktionary, English shortly‘shortly’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schortlyWiktionary, English shortly
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1749shortlyWiktionary, English shortly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones: “We shall not describe this tragical scene too fully;…”

Formed from short + -ly

Proto-Germanic *skurtaz ‘short’

Proto-West Germanic *skurt

Old English sċort ‘short’

Middle English schort

English short

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerdʰ- ‘to cut up’

herd, 2 more

through Proto-Germanic *skertaną ‘to cut (off), shorten’

scherzo, 3 more

through Proto-Germanic *skurtaz ‘short’

shirt, skirt, 3 more

Today it means

adv In a short or brief time or manner; quickly.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “shortly”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old English scort, Old English scortlice. 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 *skurtaz / shortly

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