Etymology

shortly

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Today it means: In a short or brief time or manner; quickly. Full definition →

Middle English schortly ← Old English sċortlīċe
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromsċortlīċe“shortly; before long; soon”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromschortly
  3. English todayshortly

From Middle English schortly, schortliche, from Old English sċortlīċe (“shortly; before long; soon”), equivalent to short + -ly.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.