-ly
[li]
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.37 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
2
Letters
2
Syllables
2
Unique Chars
Meaning
suffix
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.
suffix
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".
suffix
Used to form adjectives from nouns specifying time intervals, the adjectives having the sense of "occurring at such intervals".
suffix
Used to form adverbs from adjectives and nouns.
suffix
Example Sentences
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: -ly, -līċ, *-līk, *-līkaz, -līċe
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: [li]
- British English: [liː]