Etymograph

English

songly

Songly comes from Middle English song ‘a song supposed to have occult or magical power’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *songʷʰ-o-s.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*songʷʰ-o-s1uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sangwaz2‘singing, song’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sangw2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sang2‘song’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500song3‘a song supposed to have occult or magical power’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500songly4
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1967songly4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *sangwaz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English song
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Middle English songly
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English songly
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1967, Books - Issues 369-376: “Sing Hallelujah the new apocalypse of troubadours, jointing the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*songʷʰ-o-sWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *sangwazuncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sangwazWiktionary, Middle English song‘singing, song’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sangwWiktionary, Middle English songreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sangWiktionary, Middle English song‘song’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500songWiktionary, Middle English songly‘a song supposed to have occult or magical power’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500songlyWiktionary, English songly
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1967songlyWiktionary, English songly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1967, Books - Issues 369-376: “Sing Hallelujah the new apocalypse of troubadours, jointing the…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *songʷʰ-o-s

Today it means

adj Of, resembling, pertaining to, or expressed in song; songful; musical

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “songly”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *sangwaz, Middle English song, Middle English songly. 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 *songʷʰ-o-s / songly

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