-liche

See also: liche

Middle English

Alternative forms

• -lich, -lyche, -lych, -li, -ly, -lie, -lye, -like, -lik, -licke, -lyke, -lyk, -lycke, -leche, -le, -lei, -loche, -lice, -lic, -lica, -liȝ, -lyce, -lyc, -lyca, -lyȝ, -lece, -luche, -luch

Etymology

From Old English -līc, -līċ, from Proto-Germanic *-līkaz (“having the body or form of”), from *līką (“body”)

Suffix

-liche (comparative -lichere, superlative -lyest)

1. Used to form adjectives from nouns, the adjectives having the sense of "like or characteristic of what is denoted by the noun".
2. Appended to adjectives in order to render meaning of the adjective either more intense or more approximate.

   • E.g. ded (“no longer alive”), dedliche (“causing, resembling or subject to death”); short (“not long”), shortliche (“momentary; very brief”)

3. Used to form adverbs from adjectives, and nouns; the adverbs having the sense of "in the manner of what is denoted by the adjective/noun".
4. Optionally appended to adverbs without suffixes with no change to the meaning.

Derived terms

Category Middle English terms suffixed with -liche not found

Derived terms

• aerliche
• aghlich
• arghliche
• armliche
• atterliche
• bigly
• bodyliche
• boldeliche
• brotheliche
• craftliche
• craftiliche
• dedliche
• depliche
• diȝeliche
• dueliche
• ediliche
• evenliche
• faderliche
• fairliche
• felauliche
• fokenliche
• freliche
• freshliche
• gidiliche
• gladliche
• gostliche
• grefliche
• greithliche
• gromliche
• groundliche
• ȝewisliche
• hagherliche
• hedliche
• heighliche
• herteliche
• idafenliche
• idelliche
• innerliche
• justisliche
• kindeliche
• leofliche
• maidenliche
• organliche
• reuliche
• semeliche
• shortliche
• timeliche
• throliche
• werkmanliche
• wisliche
• wommanliche
• yerliche

Descendants

• English: -ly
• Scots: -lie

Usage notes

• Which variant of this suffix is most common varies depending on the word; there is little consistency, though -lich(e) and -ly in general are notably frequent.

References

• “-lī, suf.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 7 April 2018.
• “-lī, suf.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 7 April 2018.