English
mortally
Mortally comes from Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mortally
- Englishearliest quotation 1596mortally
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mer-‘to die’root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mortally
- Englishearliest quotation 1596mortally
Earliest quotation: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book V, Canto I: “And all the depth of rightfull doome was taught…”
Formed from mortal + -ly
Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’
…
Latin mors ‘death’
Latin mortālis
Old French mortal
Middle English mortal
English mortal
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’
remember, march, murder, marine, nightmare, mere, maritime, marsh, mare, mara, muller, immortal, moor, morbid, ambrosia, marinate, morn, marinara, mortuary, maar, moribund, cormorant, mortification, mortician, mortier, 60 more
Today it means
adv Fatally; in such a way as to cause death.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mer- / mortally