Etymology

likeness

like·ness
L1I1K5E1N1E1S1S1

Today it means: The state or quality of being like or alike. Full definition →

Middle English liknesse ← Old English līcness ← Proto-West Germanic *galīkanassī
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*galīkanassī“likeness”
  2. Old English · inherited fromlīcness
  3. Middle English · inherited fromliknesse
  4. English todaylikeness

From Middle English liknesse, from Old English līcness, ġelīcnes (“the quality of being like or equal; likeness; image; copy; pattern; example; parable”), from Proto-West Germanic *galīkanassī (“likeness”), equivalent to like + -ness. Cognate with West Frisian likenis (“likeness”), Dutch gelijkenis (“similarity; likeness; parable”), German Low German Glieknis (“form; semblance; likeness; parable”), German Gleichnis (“form; semblance; image; likeness; parable; simile”). The verb is derived from the noun. Compare also Old Norse líkneskja (“figure, image, appearance, likeness”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.