gelic

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Old English

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *galīk. Equivalent to ġe- +‎ līċ. Cognate with Old Frisian gelīk, Old Saxon gilīk, Old Norse glíkr.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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ġelīċ (comparative ġelīcra, superlative ġelīċust or ġelīċost or ġelīċast or ġelīċest)

  1. like, similar; the same (meaning 'alike', not 'identical'), equal
    Handa and fēt bēoþ ġelīc.
    Hands and feet are similar.
    Hīe wǣron ġelīcran wildrum þonne mannum.
    They were more like wild animals than people.
    Fela sind weorolda, ac hīe ealla dǣlaþ ġelīcne heofon. Ān heofon, ān wyrd.
    There are many worlds, but they all share the same sky—one sky, one destiny.
    • Life of St. Guthlac
      Sē līchama wæs slǣpendum menn ġelīcra þonne dēadum.
      The body looked more like a sleeping person than a dead one.
    • c. 992, Ælfric, "On the Greater Litany"
      Būtan þām ǣhtum, ġelīċe sind þā þe biddaþ and þā þe hīe æt biddaþ.
      Apart from possessions, those who beg are the same as those they beg from.
    • c. 893, King Alfred, Doom Book
      Ġeō wǣron manigu wītu māran þonne ōðru. Nū sind eall ġelīc.
      Before, many fines were greater than others. Now they are all equal.
    • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
      Ealle menn hæfdon ġelīcne fruman, for þon hīe ealle cōmon of ānum fæder and of ānre mēder, and ealle hīe bēoþ ġīet ġelīċe ācennede.
      Everyone had the same origin, because we all came from one father and one mother, and to this day, all of us are still born equal.

Usage notes

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  • When saying that something is like (i.e. similar or alike to) something else, the thing that it is being compared to is put in the dative case, and usually precedes the word ġelīċ: Iċ neom nāteshwōn mīnum ġesweostrum ġelīċ ("I am not at all like my sisters"). However, when two or more things are said to be alike to each other (i.e. with equal weight given to each thing being compared), the nominative case is used for each: Sē wer and his frēond wǣron geliċe ("The man and his friend were alike").

Declension

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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