English
worldly
Worldly comes from Middle English worldly ‘made of matter’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *weraldilīkaz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*weraldilīkazreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150woruldlīċ
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500worldly‘made of matter’
- Englishearliest quotation 1889same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*weraldilīkazreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150woruldlīċ
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500worldly‘made of matter’
- Englishearliest quotation 1889same form
Earliest quotation: 1889, Leo Tolstoy: “The conviction that my personal, worldly life was something…”
Formed from world + -ly
Proto-Germanic *weraldiz ‘lifetime’
Proto-West Germanic *weraldi
Old English weorold
Middle English world ‘the world’
English world
Every English word from Proto-Germanic *weraldilīkaz
Another origin of worldly
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*weraldilīkazreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150woruldlīċas weoroldlīċ
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150weoroldlīċeas woroldlīċe‘secularly’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500worldly‘in the way of the material world’
- Englishtodaysame form
Today it means
adj Concerned with human or earthly matters, physical as opposed to spiritual.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *weraldilīkaz / worldly