Etymograph

English

like

Like comes from Middle English liken, from Old English līcian ‘to please’, from Proto-Germanic *līkāną, built on *līką ‘body’, perhaps from PIE *leyg- ‘similar, like’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyg-‘similar, like’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līką‘body’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*-līkaz‘-like’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līkāną‘to conform’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*līkēn‘to be pleasing’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150līcian‘to like’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500liken‘to be appealing or pleasant’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590slike

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyg-‘similar, like’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līką‘body’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*-līkaz‘-like’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līkāną‘to conform’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*līkēn‘to be pleasing’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150līcian‘to like’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500liken‘to be appealing or pleasant’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590slike

Earliest quotation: 1590s, William Shakespeare, Henry VI: “And like me to the peasant boys of France.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ‘image’

lay, lake, lai, ilk, lich, 1 more

through Proto-Germanic *līkāną ‘to please, to like (impersonal)’

liking, 1 more

Another origin of like

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ga-‘Indicates association or togetherness’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*galīkaz‘alike, similar’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*galīk‘alike, similar’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġelīċ‘like, similar’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lik
  6. Englishtodaylike

Adjective from Middle English lik, lyk, lich, like, from Old English ġelīċ by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr, glíkr; both from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (‘like, similar, same’).

Today it means

verb To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *leyg- / like

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