Etymograph

English

soothly

Soothly comes from Old English sōþlīċe ‘truly, really, certainly’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *sanþalīkā.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sanþalīkā1reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150sōþlīċe2‘truly, really, certainly’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sothly2
  4. Englishtodaysoothly2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English soþlice
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English soothly

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sanþalīkāWiktionary, Old English soþlicereconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150sōþlīċeWiktionary, English soothly‘truly, really, certainly’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sothlyWiktionary, English soothly
  4. EnglishtodaysoothlyWiktionary, English soothly

Formed from sooth + -ly

Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- ‘to be’

…

Proto-Germanic *sanþaz ‘truth’

Proto-West Germanic *sanþ ‘true’

Old English sōþ ‘truth’

Middle English sooth

English sooth

Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *sanþalīkā

Today it means

adv Truly, verily.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “soothly”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English soþlice. 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-West Germanic *sanþalīkā / soothly

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