Etymograph

English

unalike

Unalike comes from Old English unġelic ‘different’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *galīkaz ‘alike, similar’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*galīkaz1‘alike, similar’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ungalīkaz1‘different, unlike’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150unġelic1‘different’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unylich1
  5. Englishtodayunalike1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English unalike

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*galīkazWiktionary, English unalike‘alike, similar’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ungalīkazWiktionary, English unalike‘different, unlike’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150unġelicWiktionary, English unalike‘different’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unylichWiktionary, English unalike
  5. EnglishtodayunalikeWiktionary, English unalike

A compound of *ga- ‘Indicates association or togetherness’ + *līką ‘body’

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe ‘Deictic particle, here’

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘beside, near, by, with’

Proto-Germanic *ga- ‘Indicates association or togetherness’

Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ‘to jump around, run around’

Proto-Germanic *līką ‘body’

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *galīkaz ‘alike, similar’

likeness, 1 more

through Proto-Germanic *ungalīkaz ‘different, unlike’

unlike

Today it means

adj Of an unlike kind; different

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “unalike”. 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 *galīkaz / unalike

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