Etymology

playful

P3L1A1Y4F4U1L1

Today it means: Enjoying play; sportive; prone to playing frequently, in the manner of a child or young pet (viz. puppy or kitten). Full definition →

Middle English pleiful
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited frompleiful
  2. English todayplayful

From Middle English pleiful, equivalent to play + -ful.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.