Etymology

hardly

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Today it means: Barely, only just, almost not. Full definition →

Middle English hardely ← Old English heardlīċe
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromheardlīċe“boldly; hardily; without ease; in a way that causes pain; not easily; only by degrees”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromhardely
  3. English todayhardly

From Middle English hardely, hardliche, from Old English heardlīċe (“boldly; hardily; without ease; in a way that causes pain; not easily; only by degrees”), equivalent to hard + -ly. Compare Dutch hardelijk, German härtlich.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.