Etymology

defensively

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Today it means: In a defensive manner. Full definition →

Proto-Germanic *līką ← Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ← English defensive
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The story

  1. Englishdefensive
  2. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  3. Proto-Germanic*līką
  4. English todaydefensively

From defensive + -ly.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.