like

like · verb, noun¹

1. Middle English · derived fromliken“to like”
2. Middle English · inherited fromlike“pleasure, will, like”
3. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*leyg-“image; likeness; similarity”
4. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*līkāną
5. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*līkēn
6. Old English · inherited fromlīcian“to like, to please”
7. Middle English · inherited fromliken
8. English todaylike

Verb from Middle English liken, from Old English līcian (“to like, to please”), from Proto-West Germanic *līkēn, from Proto-Germanic *līkāną, from Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“image; likeness; similarity”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian liekje (“to be similar, resemble”), West Frisian lykje (“to seem, appear, look”), Dutch lijken (“to seem”), Low German lieken (“to be like; resemble”), German gleichen (“to resemble”), Swedish lika (“to like; put up with; align with”), Norwegian like (“to like”), Icelandic and Faroese líka (“to like”). Noun from Middle English like (“pleasure, will, like”), from the verb Middle English liken (“to like”).

like · adjective, adverb, noun, conjunction, preposition, particle²

1. Middle English · inherited fromlike
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*galīkaz“same, like, similar”
3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*galīkê
4. Old Norse · derived fromlíka“also, likewise”
5. Old English · inherited fromġelīċe“likewise, also, as, in like manner, similarly”
6. Middle English · inherited fromlike
7. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*galīkaz“like, similar, same”
8. Old Norse · derived fromlíkr
9. Old English · inherited fromġelīċ
10. Middle English · inherited fromlik
11. English todaylike

Adjective from Middle English lik, lyk, lich, like, from Old English ġelīċ by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr, glíkr; both from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“like, similar, same”). Related to alike; more distantly, with lich and -ly. Cognate with West Frisian like (“like; as”), Saterland Frisian gliek (“like”), Danish lig (“alike”), Dutch gelijk (“like, alike”), German gleich (“equal, like”), Icelandic líkur (“alike, like, similar”), Norwegian lik (“like, alike”) Swedish lik (“like, similar”) Adverb from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, from Old English ġelīċe (“likewise, also, as, in like manner, similarly”) and Old Norse líka (“also, likewise”); both from Proto-Germanic *galīkê, from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“same, like, similar”). Conjunction from Middle English like, lyke, lik, lyk, from the adverb Middle English like. Preposition from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, lijc, liih (“similar to, like, equal to, comparable with”), from Middle English like (adjective) and like (adverb).

like · verb³

From like (adverb) and like (adjective).

Like · proper noun⁴

From the Dutch surname, probably a variant of Luik, a city in Belgium.

Words from the same roots