The story
- Proto-Germanic · derived from*leubalīkaz
- Proto-Germanic · inherited from*leubalīka
- Old English · inherited fromlēoflīċe“kindly, graciously, gladly, lovingly”
- Middle English · inherited fromlevely
- English todayliefly
From Middle English levely, levelike, lefliȝ, leofliche, from Old English lēoflīċe (“kindly, graciously, gladly, lovingly”), from lēoflīċ, from Proto-Germanic *leubalīka, from Proto-Germanic *leubalīkaz, equivalent to lief + -ly.
Words from the same roots
Proto-Germanic*leubalīkaz all →
lovelily
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.