Etymology

comely

come·ly
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Today it means: Of a person: attractive or pleasing to look at; beautiful, handsome; also, attractive but not particularly beautiful or handsome. Full definition →

Middle English comli ← Old English cȳmlīċ ← Proto-West Germanic *kūmijalīk
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comely · adjective, verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic*kūmijaz
  2. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  3. Proto-Germanic*līką
  4. Proto-Germanic*kūmijalīkaz
  5. Proto-West Germanic*kūmijalīk
  6. Old Englishcȳmlīċ
  7. Middle Englishcomli
  8. English todaycomely

Inherited from Middle English comli (“beautiful, handsome; of noble birth, bearing, or character; convenient, appropriate, fitting”), from Old English cȳmlīċ (“comely, beautiful, lovely”), from Proto-West Germanic *kūmijalīk (“comely, convenient”), from Proto-Germanic *kūmijalīkaz (“comely, convenient”), from *kūmijaz (“delicate, weak”) + *-līkaz. The verb is derived from the adjective. Cognates Middle Dutch komelick, komlick Middle High German gomelīh, komelīh

comely · adverb2

  1. Middle English · inherited from-li
  2. Old English · inherited fromcȳme
  3. Middle English · inherited fromcomli
  4. English todaycomely

From Middle English comli, cumly, cumeliche (“beautifully, handsomely; gracefully; splendidly; fittingly, properly; well”), from Old English cȳme (adjective) (see etymology 1) + Middle English -li (suffix forming adverbs).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.