-ly en · X · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- [lɪ] (Received-Pronunciation)
- [ɫiː] (New-Zealand)
- (US) audio
- -lē
- [liː] (UK)
- [li] (US)
- /-li/
Etymology
From Middle English -ly, -li, -lik, -lich, -like, from Old English -līċ, from Proto-West Germanic *-līk, from Proto-Germanic *-līkaz (“having the body or form of”), from *līką (“body”) (whence lich). In form, probably influenced by Old Norse -ligr (“-ly”) (Norwegian Bokmål -lig, Faroese -ligur, Icelandic -legur). Cognate with Dutch -lijk, German -lich, Danish -lig and Swedish -lig. Doublet of -like, more at like.
Meanings
-
(morpheme) Used to form adjectives from nouns, the adjectives having the sense of "behaving like, or having a nature typical of what is denoted by the noun" Similar in meaning to -like but most often paired with animate nouns.
man + -ly → manly
comrade + -ly → comradely
-
(morpheme) Used to form adjectives from nouns, the adjectives having the sense of "appearing like, resembling, or having the likeness of what is denoted by the noun".
bloom + -ly → bloomly
muscle + -ly → muscly
-
(morpheme) Used to form adjectives from nouns specifying time intervals, the adjectives having the sense of "occurring at such intervals".
month + -ly → monthly
day + -ly → daily
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most -ly | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| -liest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| -lier | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| more -ly | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Deriveds
fortnightly (occurring at intervals) · yearly (occurring at intervals) · daily (occurring at intervals) · weekly (occurring at intervals) · hourly (occurring at intervals) · manly (typical of a noun) · bimonthly (occurring at intervals) · biweekly (occurring at intervals) · friendly (typical of a noun) · bloomly (resembling a noun) · priestly (resembling a noun) · beastly (typical of a noun) · monthly (occurring at intervals)
Synonyms
-y · quasi- (likeness or resemblance) · -some (likeness or resemblance) · -ish · -some (suggesting degree) · -ous (suggesting degree) · -like (likeness or resemblance; forms adjectives from nouns only) · -form (likeness or resemblance) · -iform (likeness or resemblance) · -ass (likeness or resemblance; restricted to casual registers) · para- (likeness or resemblance) · -oid (likeness or resemblance) · -esque (likeness or resemblance) · -like
Translations (67)
ru еже- (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "occurring at such intervals") · cmn 地 (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · tr -ça (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · tr -çe (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · fo -ligur (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · nl -lijk (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · tr -ce (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · da -agtig (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · fi -mainen (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · sv -artad (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · io -atra (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · eo -a (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · de -lich (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · tr -lik (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "occurring at such intervals") · de -lich (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "occurring at such intervals") · hu -i (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "occurring at such intervals") · ru -ский (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · pl -owy (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · pl co- (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "occurring at such intervals") · tr -cıl (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · cmn 的 (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · ru -ски (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · de -haft (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · hu -i (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · tr -çil (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · hu -es (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · gl -oso (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · gl -mente (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · es -oso (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · tr -çıl (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · nl -achtig (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · sv -isk (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · hu -ös (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · az -lik (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "occurring at such intervals") · hu -os (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · ka -ური (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · pl -ny (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · da -lig (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · pt -ento (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · tr -ca (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · fa مآبانه (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · pt -mente (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · de -isch (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · de -ig (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · sv -lig (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · da -lig (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "occurring at such intervals") · sv -aktig (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · hu -as (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · hu -ies (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · uk що- -ний (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "occurring at such intervals") · kmr -ane (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "occurring at such intervals") · ka -ული (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · sv -lig (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "occurring at such intervals") · tr -cil (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · kmr -ane (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · ang -līċ (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · hu -ias (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · enm -ly (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · nl -ig (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · is -legur (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · cy -us (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · hu -s (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · nl -lijks (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "occurring at such intervals") · sh -ně (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · fr -ment (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · ur -ی (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of") · pt -oso (forming adjectives from nouns, in the sense "similar to, like, characteristic of")