Etymograph

English

full well

Full well comes from Middle English fol wel, and goes back to Old English ful wel.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150ful wel
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fol wel
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1829full well

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150ful wel
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fol wel
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1829full well

Earliest quotation: 1829, Charles Burroughs, Memoirs and select papers of Horace B. Morse: “Besides, there is always a tendency—indeed an interest—to take…”

Formed from full + well

Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’

…

Proto-Germanic *fullaz ‘full’

Proto-West Germanic *full ‘full’

Old English full ‘full’

Middle English ful ‘full’

English full

Proto-Germanic *wela

Old English wel ‘well’

Middle English wel ‘well’

English well

Every English word from Old English ful wel

Today it means

adv Very well

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old English ful wel / full well

Shirt and support for this word